Africans believed – and many still believe – in a universe populated by countless spirits that can manifest in any animal, plant, rock, hill or river and have special power. This idea of ​​the afterlife is known as animism, and it has filled the continent with sacred sites. These spirits do not arise at random, but belong to well-structured religions with a cosmogony in which there are one or several creator gods and a history that in some cases has been represented through cave paintings, the oldest of which are associated with hunting, the figure of the shaman, the awakening of the spirit and the concept of the sacred in the human species. Rock art is found in many African countries. In North Africa, the rock art of the Sahara is very characteristic, in Egypt (Swimmers' Cave), Chad (Tibesti and Ennedi), Libya (Tadrart Acacus), Niger (Air Mountains), Algeria (Tassili n'Ajjer), Mali, Morocco (Atlas "Atlas (mountain range)")) and Mauritania, among others. In central and eastern Africa it is found in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon. In southern Africa it is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the latter the art of the Bushmen predominates.

Megalithic monuments

They are architectural constructions made with large blocks of stone, preferably during the Neolithic. It is suggested that this name, megaliths, should only be applied to those built in the western Mediterranean and Western Europe because this is the name given to those made with large blocks of rough stone known as megaliths; so the large Egyptian constructions and statues of Easter Island are not included, but the stone groupings of Nabta Playa, in the Nubian desert, are included.

Mazes

They can be made of stone, engraved on the stone or made of grass. They have been found throughout India, engraved in stone and related to the battle of Kurukshetra, narrated in the Majábharata; in Crete, where the famous Minotaur labyrinth is located; in Ancient Rome, in numerous ancient paintings and mosaics; In England, where they are made of grass, they are known as turf mazes and there are several types: the mizmaze, the troy town, the walls of Troy, the Julian's Bower and the Shepherd's race, all of medieval origin; in the Baltic countries, where there are more than six hundred of various types, dedicated to the gods of Norse mythology, such as those of Tibble, in Sweden, or those of Graitschen and Steigra, in Germany; in France, where the labyrinths of the cathedrals are well known, including that of Arras "Arras (Pas de Calais)"), Auxerre, Bayeux, Chartres, Poitiers, Reims, Saint-Omer and Saint-Quentin, many of them destroyed and all of them symbols of the path to follow to reach God, and finally in Arizona, United States, engraved in stone by the Hopi Indians, the Navajos and the Pimas, in this case to represent the tortuous path that the Pima must follow to emerge into the real world.

The civilization of Ancient Egypt is the one that has lasted the longest in human history. The existence of gods like Horus began in the Nile delta more than three thousand years before Christ and gradually declined with the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC. C., although it was Christianity, in the person of Justinian I, who prohibited the cult of Isis in the 6th century. The period of expansion of the Egyptian Empire declines in the 6th century BC. C. with the Kushite dynasty and Egypt became dependent on rulers from other empires.

The Egyptian gods are numerous and taking into account that they also worshiped certain animals, as divine incarnations, the sacred places number in the thousands; The remains of hundreds of these have reached us, of which we mention the most important ones and the cities where they were located.

The history of Greece begins in the Paleolithic and appears in history with the Minoan civilizations, on the island of Crete, and Mycenaean, in the Peloponnese. The latter absorb the Cretans and conquer all the islands of the Aegean Sea. In the century BC. C. the first city states appear and in the century BC. C. Athens and Sparta are already great powers. In the century of Pericles (century BC), both confronted the Persians and defeated them. In the century BC. C., Thebes "Thebes (Greece)") becomes the dominant city and soon after Alexander the Great makes Greece part of his empire. In the century BC. C. Greece becomes part of the Roman Empire. The sacred places of ancient Greece are innumerable, as many as temples erected in honor of the gods throughout the country, therefore we can only mention the most notable, all of them archaeological sites located in broader frameworks that serve as a reference for us.

Zeus chose it as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. There was an important sanctuary dedicated to Apollo.

Costa Rica

The Guayabo National Monument, located in the canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica, was an important political and religious center of the indigenous Costa Rican societies, belonging to the Central archaeological region of the country, being used as a ceremonial site between the year 1000 and 1400 AD. C. Mounds, roads, aqueducts, petroglyphs, monoliths, stone basements, archaeological pieces of jade, stone, ceramics, gold, etc. have been found there. Guayabo is located on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano. In the cultural heritage of Costa Rica, volcanoes play a fundamental role, being considered sacred mountains.

The Bribris represent the largest indigenous ethnic group in Costa Rica and are located mainly in the Talamanca Mountain Range with references dating back 6,000 years, but the oral tradition refers to more than 12,000 years. Among the main archetypes in the construction of the collective imagination of the people of Costa Rica, the Usuré and Suráyum stand out as symbolic and physical references that intermingle in the syncretism between the ancestral and the Christian.

The region of the Grande de Térraba River (in the Boruca language, Diquís, "big water"), in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, was the site of settlement of several complex chieftain societies that were characterized by the production of stone spheres. 45 stone sphere deposits have been identified in Costa Rica, one in the North Pacific, six in the Central region, and the rest in the South Pacific,[3]​ specifically in the Diquís subregion, where about 200 spheres have been documented, whose size varies from a few centimeters to 2.5 meters, with weights between several kilos and 30 tons, and which are characterized by the purification of their production techniques. These spheres began to be made around 300 to 800 years of our era, the oldest sites being Bolas de Buenos Aires de Puntarenas and Piedra Pintada, in San Vito de Coto Brus "San Vito (Costa Rica)"). The Palmar Sur region is an important archaeological site where these spheres are found. Their manufacture continued until the period of the late chiefdoms, especially in the area of ​​the delta formed by the Térraba and Sierpe rivers, and they are considered distinctive of the so-called Diquís culture,[3]​ and currently, they are symbols of national identity.

Mexico

The Aztecs or Mexica are the dominant people in northern and central Mesoamerica between the beginning of the century and the arrival of the Spanish in approximately 1521. They have a syncretic religion that absorbs and adds to their pantheon the gods of the peoples conquered throughout the centuries, especially once they settled in the Anáhuac valley, in central Mexico.

The Mayan culture develops in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and part of Honduras and El Salvador. Its history begins in prehistory, but only from the year 1000 BC. C. their language and culture develop. Its two periods of splendor take place between the years 320 and 987 (classical period) and 1000 and 1687 (postclassical period). In all cities there are sacred places and any of their archaeological sites can be considered as such. We highlight only the most important cities, but among the many that are worth mentioning are, in addition to those cited below: Chacmultún, Dzibilchaltún "Dzibilchaltún (archaeological site)"), Ek Balam, Izamal, Kabáh, Kulubá, Labná, Mayapán, Xcambó, Yaxuná, Calakmul, Cobá and Caracol in Mexico; Aguateca, Cancuén, Cival, Dos Pilas, El Naranjo "El Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from Petén) and Naranjo "Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from the Valley of Guatemala), Holtún, Machaquilá, Nakún"), Quiriguá, Uaxactún, Piedras Negras, Nakbé (the oldest), El Mirador "El Mirador (Mayan city)") and Ceibal in Guatemala. Bonampak: located In the jungle of Chiapas, its ruins have the most beautiful and illustrative paintings in all of pre-Hispanic America.

It was the first great civilization of Mesoamerica, developed between the years 1500 BC. C. and 100 d. C., although some historians take them to 500 AD. C. in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a jungle and swampy region and the remains that have reached us are few, such as the monumental stone heads and ceramics known as "baby faces." They worshiped the snake and the jaguar and practiced, like other cultures in the area, human sacrifices in honor of the gods.

The Toltec culture dominated most of central Mexico in the 2nd centuries, between the current state of Zacatecas and southeastern Yucatán. Some archaeologists consider that the expression Toltec encompasses different peoples of the Mesoamerican area and that Tollan, its capital, could designate Teotihuacán, the capital of the Aztecs, from whom the inhabitants of Tula would be descendants, or Cholula "Cholula (archaeology)"), a nearby city and main ally of the Aztecs, which would have also been inhabited by the Toltecs.

The Totonac culture develops in the area of ​​Veracruz, Puebla and Tabasco, in southeastern Mexico. It reached its splendor between the years 300 and 1200, and when the Spanish arrived it was under the rule of the Mexica.

The Zapotec culture develops in the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. There is evidence of its existence in 2500 BC. C., they form a notable culture since 1500 BC. C., reached their peak between the years 500 and 150 BC. C. and disappear around the century AD. C. due to internal struggles and confrontations with the Aztecs.

Peru

It takes place between the 12th and 16th centuries, between southern Colombia, northern Argentina and the central area of ​​Chile.

It takes place in the Lambayeque region between 200 BC. C. and 700 AD. C. It lacks recognized sacred places, perhaps because it occupies the same place as the immediately subsequent Sicán culture, but the most recognizable is in the vicinity of Sipán "Sipán (Peru)"), where the remains of the Lord of Sipán are found.

Also known as the Lambayeque culture, between the years 700 and 1375, northwest of Peru.

Pre-Columbian civilization located between Peru and Bolivia that lasted between 400 BC. C. and 1200 AD. C. approximately.

Tamil monotheistic religion that originated in southern India in the mid-century. Although it is related to Hinduism, it is considered a different religion, not recognized by the Indian government. It is based on the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar, the god of the Ayyavazhi, contained in a sacred book, the Akilathirattu Ammanai. According to their beliefs, the supreme power of the Universe is Ekam, from which arise Sivam, the material and spiritual manifestation of the totality, and Sakthi, the force that drives that totality, the material and spiritual universe. Next, there are the three aspects of Ayya Vaikundar: Sivan, equivalent to the Hindu god Shiva, the creator; Vethan, equivalent to the Hindu Brahma, the preserver, and Thirumal or Perumal, another of the names of Vishnu, the destroyer, which combined give rise to Narayana or Vishnu again, the most powerful god of the trimurti, of which Ayya Vaikundar, the main divinity, is an avatar. Among the characteristics of the Ayyavazhi is their worship of the manifestation of evil, Kroni, which differentiates them from Hinduism.

Its main places of worship are known as Pancha pathi") (the five abodes of god) and are located within a circle of just 15 kilometers around Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent:.

Other pathis are:

Other Ayyavazhi sacred places are the so-called Nizhal thangal, simple structures built for worship and for learning the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar. The seven main thangals are: Chettikudiyiruppu"), Agastheeswaram, Paloor, Sundavilai"), Vadalivilai"), Kadambankulam") and Pambankulam").

Four sacred places of Buddhism

They are pilgrimage sites related to the life of the original Buddha.

Four sacred mountains of Buddhism in China

According to legend, the four mountains were the meditation places of four bodhisattvas: Wen Shu, Pu Xian, Guan Yin and Dizang.

Tibetan Buddhism

The Indian guru Padma Sambhava introduced Indian Buddhism to Tibet in the 19th century. In these regions, Buddhism assimilates the Bön tradition of those regions, integrates the tantric teachings, which it teaches in its numerous monasteries in a multifaceted manner, and gives very special importance to the lamas "Lama (Buddhism)") (spiritual guides). It has four main traditions: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakia "Shakya (school)") and Gelug, each with its monasteries and its minor lineages; For example, Kagyu has four major schools and eight sub-schools; Nyingma has six mother monasteries where the six levels of tantra are taught; Sakia is different because it offers private tantric teachings attended by teachers from the other schools, and geluk focuses on the Ganden and Drepung monasteries. Most of the monasteries were destroyed during the Chinese invasion of 1959, and many of them were rebuilt several decades later.

Doctrine developed by Confucius in China between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. C. His teachings, focused on ancestor worship and harmony with the cosmos, spread throughout China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

Contenido

El cristianismo ha dado lugar a diversas denominaciones cristianas con sus propias ciudades santas:.

Coptic Church

The Coptic Church, founded in Egypt in the century by Saint Mark the Evangelist, heir to Monophysitism, separated from the Catholic Church in the century. Today, Coptic Christianity is the dominant religion in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is made up of three patriarchates; the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Coptic Patriarchate of Ethiopia and the Coptic Patriarchate of Eritrea. It currently has its own Pope and two Coptic patriarchs.

Catholic church

It recognizes three holy cities: Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Caravaca de la Cruz and Santo Toribio de Liébana.

orthodox church

The Orthodox Church is the third of the great Christian religions, along with Catholicism and Protestantism. It was formed in the Eastern Mediterranean after a series of councils held between the 4th and 8th centuries and officially separated from the Catholic Church in 1054 after the East-West Schism. Today, Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Georgia. Due to emigration, there are also important communities in the United States, Canada and Australia. It is made up of fifteen autocephalous churches, of which the most important are, in this order: that of Constantinople, that of Alexandria, that of Antioch and that of Jerusalem, heirs of the five original patriarchates, except that of Rome, which separated from the rest in 1054. Another five have patriarchs and the rest archbishops or metropolitans. In addition, there are many other Orthodox churches dependent on the previous ones.

Protestantism

A good part of the Protestant Churches doctrinally reject the existence of sacred places or objects, however, in fact, many adherents consider the following as such:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This Christian church, whose members are known as Mormons, since they follow the teachings of the Book of Mormon, was formed in the state of New York in 1830. Its founder was Joseph Smith, who, after an angelic vision, found some tables, the golden plates, written by a prophet named Mormon. They are considered a volume of sacred writing similar to the Bible, and are a testament to the relationships of Jehovah (understood by them as pre-mortal Jesus Christ) and the resurrected Jesus Christ with the ancient inhabitants of America. Likewise, it shares as sacred a large part of the traditional sanctuaries of classical Christianity and Judaism, such as Gethsemane, Calvary, Mount Sinai, among others.

El hinduismo es una suma de creencias que tienen en común la creencia en la reencarnación. Todos creen en un dios supremo, que puede ser una persona, como Krishna, Visnú o Sivá o una energía, como el Brahman "Brahman (dios sin forma)"), origen de todos los seres, que son su expresión. No obstante, las numerosas doctrinas que forman parte del hinduismo comprenden innumerables dioses, aunque algunas son monoteístas. Tan gran suma de culturas posee numerosísimos lugares sagrados, que son adorados y motivo de festivales en los muchos templos y lugares de adoración que hay repartidos por toda la India.

Sacred places of Sivaism

Sivaism is the branch of Hinduism that worships Siva as the supreme god. It is worshiped especially in the south of India, among the Tamils, hence its most important temples, those dedicated to the five elements, are found in the state of Tamil Nadu, although the main city of the Sivaists is Benares for its temple of Kashi Vishwanath. The places of worship of Sivaism are known as yiotir-linga, the twelve shrines or abodes of Sivá, in which the god is worshiped as yiotir-linga ('bright phallus').

The five great temples of Siva

Associated with the five elements, they are found in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The six mansions of Kartikeia

They are the six temples (Arupadaiveedu) built by the Tamil people in the state of Tamil Nadu in honor of Murugan or Murukan (Kartikeya in Sanskrit), second son of Sivá and Párvati and lord of the war against demons. It has six heads, the five senses and the mind. He carries a spear and rides on a peacock. The temples are ordered according to their importance:.

Holy places of Shaktism

There are 51 śakti pita") (places of worship of the divine mother Śakti, for some Kali). In these places the legend says that the pieces of the body of Satí "Sati (Hindu goddess)") fell, the first wife of the god Sivá, who incinerated herself ashamed of her father's behavior and was cut into pieces by Śivá with his divine disk. Upon reincarnation, the goddess acquired the name Shakti.

Kumbh Mela Venues

Keep in mind that, equidistant from those twelve years, the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival is celebrated in each city.

The four mathas of Shankara

The four main mathas (shrines) of the founder of the Vedānta doctrine.

Char Dham and Chota Char Dham Circuits

The Char Dam, literally 'the four [divine] abodes' are four places in India that represent the four abodes of God in the four directions of India. In the 2nd century, the sage Adi Sankara established a pilgrimage route to visit these places: Puri, to the east; Ramesuaram, to the south; Duarka, to the west, and Badrinath, to the north. Over the years, however, the route, too broad, focused on the Garhwal division in the state of Uttarakhand, which can be done in a single trip. This reduced route was named Chota Char Dham, or 'the small four mansions', and later, it was simply called Char Dham:

Temples dedicated to Ranganatha

Ranganatha is the last form of Vishnu, worshiped in South India, especially by the Vishnu community. There are three temples with the generic name of Sri Ranganathaswamy") dedicated to Ranganatha on three small islands in the Kaveri River.

Religión monoteísta basada en el Corán, libro sagrado dictado por el dios Alá a Mahoma a través del Arcángel Gabriel. Mahoma es el último profeta, después de Abraham, Noé, Moisés y Jesús. Existen una serie de ramas del islam, de las cuales las principales son el sunismo y el chiismo. El sufismo es una derivación esotérica del islam. La mezquita propiamente dicha es un lugar de reunión y de oración, y en general se consideran lugares sagrados las que contienen mausoleos importantes.

Sunism

It is the most important Muslim community, with almost ninety percent of the faithful. They consider that Muhammad's successors should be so because of their ability and not because of blood ties with the prophet. Sunnism is divided into schools, in order of rigor, Janafi, Shafi'i, Malikí and Hanbali. The latter is what serves the Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia, which accepts only a literal interpretation of Islam.

Shiism

Shiism is a branch of Islam that continues to consider imams descended from Muhammad's family as its highest authority. Upon the death of the prophet, they accepted Ali&action=edit&redlink=1 "Alí (Muhammad's cousin) (not yet written)"), his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor.

Sufism

Sufism is an esoteric form of Islam that brings together various trends and brotherhoods, which study the highest aspects of the teachings of Muhammad in order to achieve knowledge of the god Allah. The Sufi brotherhoods or tariqas emerge from the century onwards and give rise to the various orders. Many are named after their founder or the most important saint in their history, and the mausoleums, sanctuaries or tombs of these saints are among the sacred places of the Sufis, of which we will only mention some of the most important.

Some of the most important Sufi orders are: Burhani"), Chishti"), Jerrahi"), Kubrawiya"), Qadiriyya, Mevlevi, Muridiyah"), Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi"), Safaviyeh"), Sarwari Qadiri"), Shadhili, Shadhili, Tijani") and Zahediyeh").

Religion of India founded in the century by Mahāvīrá, a contemporary of Buddha. This variant of Hinduism rejects the caste system, the authority of the Vedas and ritual sacrifices. For the Yainas, the salvation of the material and impure soul requires strict asceticism, intense meditation and rigorous control of the passions. The Yainas, about four million in India, cannot exercise violence against any living being.

The four holy cities of Israel for the Jews are as follows:.

The four sacred mountains of Judeo-Christianity, on which a significant event has taken place or there is a belief in it, are:

The place where Jews gather to pray is the synagogue, at the same time a community or religious board. Some of the most important and objects of pilgrimage for Jews around the world are:

Hasidism is the latest Jewish mystical movement, which originally proposes the practice of goodness guided by one's own heart, not because it is imposed by rules. Its own name means 'practice of piety and kindness' in Hebrew. It was founded in the century by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer. Currently it is an Orthodox Jewish movement.

It includes the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian religions developed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in the Fertile Crescent, except in the Levantine area and the Nile.

This religion originating in Japan includes the worship of kami or nature spirits, in the animism way, so that some are very particular and others are more generic in nature, such as the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Shinto or Shintoism also includes the worship of ancestors, whose spirits remain at a higher level of existence.

Sikhism was born in the century by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), as a response to the clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Nanak himself, the first of the ten gurus of the Sikhs, was a Hindu. He proclaimed the existence of a single god, the one with the true name, who was the only and authentic reality. Sikhism is against the Hindu caste system and every Sikh must comply with five basic precepts: not cutting their hair, carrying a small comb to tie it up, a metal bracelet, long underwear and a small ceremonial dagger. When India became independent, the Sikh region, Punjab, was divided between India and Pakistan.

Taoism comes from the teachings of Lao Tzu in the 5th century BC. C., which were captured in the Tao Te Ching. According to his teachings, the path to achieve truth is: the path of conciliation, the renunciation of violence and the search for virtue and immortality. Elements of Buddhism and Confucianism are mixed in Taoism. Currently, its teaching comes from the United States, where the main teachers have settled. The five sacred mountains of Taoism are associated with the four cardinal points plus the center.

The Yazidis call themselves dawasi. Their neighbors, the Sunni Muslims, call them "devil worshipers" and have persecuted them for centuries. Yazidism is a syncretic religion that combines Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism and Christian Nestorianism, with Sufi and Shiite elements of Islam and has many variants. Of their 300,000 practitioners, 150,000 live in the Jebel Sinjar Mountains and the Shaikhan district of northwestern Iraq. Another 50,000 live in Armenia and other Caucasian states, and the remainder live in southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, and Western Europe as emigrants, especially Germany, where there may be as many as 50,000. The Yazidis believe in a supreme god who has delegated the government of the world to a hierarchy of seven angels ruled by Melek Taus.

His name in Arabic is Shaitán (Satan) and it should not be pronounced because it represents the devil and is very feared. One of the curiosities of Yazidi culture is the prohibition of eating lettuce, since they say that Satan once hid in one of them. They cannot wear dark blue clothing and underwear must be white.

Africans believed – and many still believe – in a universe populated by countless spirits that can manifest in any animal, plant, rock, hill or river and have special power. This idea of ​​the afterlife is known as animism, and it has filled the continent with sacred sites. These spirits do not arise at random, but belong to well-structured religions with a cosmogony in which there are one or several creator gods and a history that in some cases has been represented through cave paintings, the oldest of which are associated with hunting, the figure of the shaman, the awakening of the spirit and the concept of the sacred in the human species. Rock art is found in many African countries. In North Africa, the rock art of the Sahara is very characteristic, in Egypt (Swimmers' Cave), Chad (Tibesti and Ennedi), Libya (Tadrart Acacus), Niger (Air Mountains), Algeria (Tassili n'Ajjer), Mali, Morocco (Atlas "Atlas (mountain range)")) and Mauritania, among others. In central and eastern Africa it is found in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon. In southern Africa it is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the latter the art of the Bushmen predominates.

Megalithic monuments

They are architectural constructions made with large blocks of stone, preferably during the Neolithic. It is suggested that this name, megaliths, should only be applied to those built in the western Mediterranean and Western Europe because this is the name given to those made with large blocks of rough stone known as megaliths; so the large Egyptian constructions and statues of Easter Island are not included, but the stone groupings of Nabta Playa, in the Nubian desert, are included.

Mazes

They can be made of stone, engraved on the stone or made of grass. They have been found throughout India, engraved in stone and related to the battle of Kurukshetra, narrated in the Majábharata; in Crete, where the famous Minotaur labyrinth is located; in Ancient Rome, in numerous ancient paintings and mosaics; In England, where they are made of grass, they are known as turf mazes and there are several types: the mizmaze, the troy town, the walls of Troy, the Julian's Bower and the Shepherd's race, all of medieval origin; in the Baltic countries, where there are more than six hundred of various types, dedicated to the gods of Norse mythology, such as those of Tibble, in Sweden, or those of Graitschen and Steigra, in Germany; in France, where the labyrinths of the cathedrals are well known, including that of Arras "Arras (Pas de Calais)"), Auxerre, Bayeux, Chartres, Poitiers, Reims, Saint-Omer and Saint-Quentin, many of them destroyed and all of them symbols of the path to follow to reach God, and finally in Arizona, United States, engraved in stone by the Hopi Indians, the Navajos and the Pimas, in this case to represent the tortuous path that the Pima must follow to emerge into the real world.

The civilization of Ancient Egypt is the one that has lasted the longest in human history. The existence of gods like Horus began in the Nile delta more than three thousand years before Christ and gradually declined with the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC. C., although it was Christianity, in the person of Justinian I, who prohibited the cult of Isis in the 6th century. The period of expansion of the Egyptian Empire declines in the 6th century BC. C. with the Kushite dynasty and Egypt became dependent on rulers from other empires.

The Egyptian gods are numerous and taking into account that they also worshiped certain animals, as divine incarnations, the sacred places number in the thousands; The remains of hundreds of these have reached us, of which we mention the most important ones and the cities where they were located.

The history of Greece begins in the Paleolithic and appears in history with the Minoan civilizations, on the island of Crete, and Mycenaean, in the Peloponnese. The latter absorb the Cretans and conquer all the islands of the Aegean Sea. In the century BC. C. the first city states appear and in the century BC. C. Athens and Sparta are already great powers. In the century of Pericles (century BC), both confronted the Persians and defeated them. In the century BC. C., Thebes "Thebes (Greece)") becomes the dominant city and soon after Alexander the Great makes Greece part of his empire. In the century BC. C. Greece becomes part of the Roman Empire. The sacred places of ancient Greece are innumerable, as many as temples erected in honor of the gods throughout the country, therefore we can only mention the most notable, all of them archaeological sites located in broader frameworks that serve as a reference for us.

Zeus chose it as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. There was an important sanctuary dedicated to Apollo.

Costa Rica

The Guayabo National Monument, located in the canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica, was an important political and religious center of the indigenous Costa Rican societies, belonging to the Central archaeological region of the country, being used as a ceremonial site between the year 1000 and 1400 AD. C. Mounds, roads, aqueducts, petroglyphs, monoliths, stone basements, archaeological pieces of jade, stone, ceramics, gold, etc. have been found there. Guayabo is located on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano. In the cultural heritage of Costa Rica, volcanoes play a fundamental role, being considered sacred mountains.

The Bribris represent the largest indigenous ethnic group in Costa Rica and are located mainly in the Talamanca Mountain Range with references dating back 6,000 years, but the oral tradition refers to more than 12,000 years. Among the main archetypes in the construction of the collective imagination of the people of Costa Rica, the Usuré and Suráyum stand out as symbolic and physical references that intermingle in the syncretism between the ancestral and the Christian.

The region of the Grande de Térraba River (in the Boruca language, Diquís, "big water"), in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, was the site of settlement of several complex chieftain societies that were characterized by the production of stone spheres. 45 stone sphere deposits have been identified in Costa Rica, one in the North Pacific, six in the Central region, and the rest in the South Pacific,[3]​ specifically in the Diquís subregion, where about 200 spheres have been documented, whose size varies from a few centimeters to 2.5 meters, with weights between several kilos and 30 tons, and which are characterized by the purification of their production techniques. These spheres began to be made around 300 to 800 years of our era, the oldest sites being Bolas de Buenos Aires de Puntarenas and Piedra Pintada, in San Vito de Coto Brus "San Vito (Costa Rica)"). The Palmar Sur region is an important archaeological site where these spheres are found. Their manufacture continued until the period of the late chiefdoms, especially in the area of ​​the delta formed by the Térraba and Sierpe rivers, and they are considered distinctive of the so-called Diquís culture,[3]​ and currently, they are symbols of national identity.

Mexico

The Aztecs or Mexica are the dominant people in northern and central Mesoamerica between the beginning of the century and the arrival of the Spanish in approximately 1521. They have a syncretic religion that absorbs and adds to their pantheon the gods of the peoples conquered throughout the centuries, especially once they settled in the Anáhuac valley, in central Mexico.

The Mayan culture develops in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and part of Honduras and El Salvador. Its history begins in prehistory, but only from the year 1000 BC. C. their language and culture develop. Its two periods of splendor take place between the years 320 and 987 (classical period) and 1000 and 1687 (postclassical period). In all cities there are sacred places and any of their archaeological sites can be considered as such. We highlight only the most important cities, but among the many that are worth mentioning are, in addition to those cited below: Chacmultún, Dzibilchaltún "Dzibilchaltún (archaeological site)"), Ek Balam, Izamal, Kabáh, Kulubá, Labná, Mayapán, Xcambó, Yaxuná, Calakmul, Cobá and Caracol in Mexico; Aguateca, Cancuén, Cival, Dos Pilas, El Naranjo "El Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from Petén) and Naranjo "Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from the Valley of Guatemala), Holtún, Machaquilá, Nakún"), Quiriguá, Uaxactún, Piedras Negras, Nakbé (the oldest), El Mirador "El Mirador (Mayan city)") and Ceibal in Guatemala. Bonampak: located In the jungle of Chiapas, its ruins have the most beautiful and illustrative paintings in all of pre-Hispanic America.

It was the first great civilization of Mesoamerica, developed between the years 1500 BC. C. and 100 d. C., although some historians take them to 500 AD. C. in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a jungle and swampy region and the remains that have reached us are few, such as the monumental stone heads and ceramics known as "baby faces." They worshiped the snake and the jaguar and practiced, like other cultures in the area, human sacrifices in honor of the gods.

The Toltec culture dominated most of central Mexico in the 2nd centuries, between the current state of Zacatecas and southeastern Yucatán. Some archaeologists consider that the expression Toltec encompasses different peoples of the Mesoamerican area and that Tollan, its capital, could designate Teotihuacán, the capital of the Aztecs, from whom the inhabitants of Tula would be descendants, or Cholula "Cholula (archaeology)"), a nearby city and main ally of the Aztecs, which would have also been inhabited by the Toltecs.

The Totonac culture develops in the area of ​​Veracruz, Puebla and Tabasco, in southeastern Mexico. It reached its splendor between the years 300 and 1200, and when the Spanish arrived it was under the rule of the Mexica.

The Zapotec culture develops in the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. There is evidence of its existence in 2500 BC. C., they form a notable culture since 1500 BC. C., reached their peak between the years 500 and 150 BC. C. and disappear around the century AD. C. due to internal struggles and confrontations with the Aztecs.

Peru

It takes place between the 12th and 16th centuries, between southern Colombia, northern Argentina and the central area of ​​Chile.

It takes place in the Lambayeque region between 200 BC. C. and 700 AD. C. It lacks recognized sacred places, perhaps because it occupies the same place as the immediately subsequent Sicán culture, but the most recognizable is in the vicinity of Sipán "Sipán (Peru)"), where the remains of the Lord of Sipán are found.

Also known as the Lambayeque culture, between the years 700 and 1375, northwest of Peru.

Pre-Columbian civilization located between Peru and Bolivia that lasted between 400 BC. C. and 1200 AD. C. approximately.

Tamil monotheistic religion that originated in southern India in the mid-century. Although it is related to Hinduism, it is considered a different religion, not recognized by the Indian government. It is based on the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar, the god of the Ayyavazhi, contained in a sacred book, the Akilathirattu Ammanai. According to their beliefs, the supreme power of the Universe is Ekam, from which arise Sivam, the material and spiritual manifestation of the totality, and Sakthi, the force that drives that totality, the material and spiritual universe. Next, there are the three aspects of Ayya Vaikundar: Sivan, equivalent to the Hindu god Shiva, the creator; Vethan, equivalent to the Hindu Brahma, the preserver, and Thirumal or Perumal, another of the names of Vishnu, the destroyer, which combined give rise to Narayana or Vishnu again, the most powerful god of the trimurti, of which Ayya Vaikundar, the main divinity, is an avatar. Among the characteristics of the Ayyavazhi is their worship of the manifestation of evil, Kroni, which differentiates them from Hinduism.

Its main places of worship are known as Pancha pathi") (the five abodes of god) and are located within a circle of just 15 kilometers around Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent:.

Other pathis are:

Other Ayyavazhi sacred places are the so-called Nizhal thangal, simple structures built for worship and for learning the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar. The seven main thangals are: Chettikudiyiruppu"), Agastheeswaram, Paloor, Sundavilai"), Vadalivilai"), Kadambankulam") and Pambankulam").

Four sacred places of Buddhism

They are pilgrimage sites related to the life of the original Buddha.

Four sacred mountains of Buddhism in China

According to legend, the four mountains were the meditation places of four bodhisattvas: Wen Shu, Pu Xian, Guan Yin and Dizang.

Tibetan Buddhism

The Indian guru Padma Sambhava introduced Indian Buddhism to Tibet in the 19th century. In these regions, Buddhism assimilates the Bön tradition of those regions, integrates the tantric teachings, which it teaches in its numerous monasteries in a multifaceted manner, and gives very special importance to the lamas "Lama (Buddhism)") (spiritual guides). It has four main traditions: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakia "Shakya (school)") and Gelug, each with its monasteries and its minor lineages; For example, Kagyu has four major schools and eight sub-schools; Nyingma has six mother monasteries where the six levels of tantra are taught; Sakia is different because it offers private tantric teachings attended by teachers from the other schools, and geluk focuses on the Ganden and Drepung monasteries. Most of the monasteries were destroyed during the Chinese invasion of 1959, and many of them were rebuilt several decades later.

Doctrine developed by Confucius in China between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. C. His teachings, focused on ancestor worship and harmony with the cosmos, spread throughout China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

Contenido

El cristianismo ha dado lugar a diversas denominaciones cristianas con sus propias ciudades santas:.

Coptic Church

The Coptic Church, founded in Egypt in the century by Saint Mark the Evangelist, heir to Monophysitism, separated from the Catholic Church in the century. Today, Coptic Christianity is the dominant religion in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is made up of three patriarchates; the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Coptic Patriarchate of Ethiopia and the Coptic Patriarchate of Eritrea. It currently has its own Pope and two Coptic patriarchs.

Catholic church

It recognizes three holy cities: Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Caravaca de la Cruz and Santo Toribio de Liébana.

orthodox church

The Orthodox Church is the third of the great Christian religions, along with Catholicism and Protestantism. It was formed in the Eastern Mediterranean after a series of councils held between the 4th and 8th centuries and officially separated from the Catholic Church in 1054 after the East-West Schism. Today, Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Georgia. Due to emigration, there are also important communities in the United States, Canada and Australia. It is made up of fifteen autocephalous churches, of which the most important are, in this order: that of Constantinople, that of Alexandria, that of Antioch and that of Jerusalem, heirs of the five original patriarchates, except that of Rome, which separated from the rest in 1054. Another five have patriarchs and the rest archbishops or metropolitans. In addition, there are many other Orthodox churches dependent on the previous ones.

Protestantism

A good part of the Protestant Churches doctrinally reject the existence of sacred places or objects, however, in fact, many adherents consider the following as such:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This Christian church, whose members are known as Mormons, since they follow the teachings of the Book of Mormon, was formed in the state of New York in 1830. Its founder was Joseph Smith, who, after an angelic vision, found some tables, the golden plates, written by a prophet named Mormon. They are considered a volume of sacred writing similar to the Bible, and are a testament to the relationships of Jehovah (understood by them as pre-mortal Jesus Christ) and the resurrected Jesus Christ with the ancient inhabitants of America. Likewise, it shares as sacred a large part of the traditional sanctuaries of classical Christianity and Judaism, such as Gethsemane, Calvary, Mount Sinai, among others.

El hinduismo es una suma de creencias que tienen en común la creencia en la reencarnación. Todos creen en un dios supremo, que puede ser una persona, como Krishna, Visnú o Sivá o una energía, como el Brahman "Brahman (dios sin forma)"), origen de todos los seres, que son su expresión. No obstante, las numerosas doctrinas que forman parte del hinduismo comprenden innumerables dioses, aunque algunas son monoteístas. Tan gran suma de culturas posee numerosísimos lugares sagrados, que son adorados y motivo de festivales en los muchos templos y lugares de adoración que hay repartidos por toda la India.

Sacred places of Sivaism

Sivaism is the branch of Hinduism that worships Siva as the supreme god. It is worshiped especially in the south of India, among the Tamils, hence its most important temples, those dedicated to the five elements, are found in the state of Tamil Nadu, although the main city of the Sivaists is Benares for its temple of Kashi Vishwanath. The places of worship of Sivaism are known as yiotir-linga, the twelve shrines or abodes of Sivá, in which the god is worshiped as yiotir-linga ('bright phallus').

The five great temples of Siva

Associated with the five elements, they are found in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The six mansions of Kartikeia

They are the six temples (Arupadaiveedu) built by the Tamil people in the state of Tamil Nadu in honor of Murugan or Murukan (Kartikeya in Sanskrit), second son of Sivá and Párvati and lord of the war against demons. It has six heads, the five senses and the mind. He carries a spear and rides on a peacock. The temples are ordered according to their importance:.

Holy places of Shaktism

There are 51 śakti pita") (places of worship of the divine mother Śakti, for some Kali). In these places the legend says that the pieces of the body of Satí "Sati (Hindu goddess)") fell, the first wife of the god Sivá, who incinerated herself ashamed of her father's behavior and was cut into pieces by Śivá with his divine disk. Upon reincarnation, the goddess acquired the name Shakti.

Kumbh Mela Venues

Keep in mind that, equidistant from those twelve years, the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival is celebrated in each city.

The four mathas of Shankara

The four main mathas (shrines) of the founder of the Vedānta doctrine.

Char Dham and Chota Char Dham Circuits

The Char Dam, literally 'the four [divine] abodes' are four places in India that represent the four abodes of God in the four directions of India. In the 2nd century, the sage Adi Sankara established a pilgrimage route to visit these places: Puri, to the east; Ramesuaram, to the south; Duarka, to the west, and Badrinath, to the north. Over the years, however, the route, too broad, focused on the Garhwal division in the state of Uttarakhand, which can be done in a single trip. This reduced route was named Chota Char Dham, or 'the small four mansions', and later, it was simply called Char Dham:

Temples dedicated to Ranganatha

Ranganatha is the last form of Vishnu, worshiped in South India, especially by the Vishnu community. There are three temples with the generic name of Sri Ranganathaswamy") dedicated to Ranganatha on three small islands in the Kaveri River.

Religión monoteísta basada en el Corán, libro sagrado dictado por el dios Alá a Mahoma a través del Arcángel Gabriel. Mahoma es el último profeta, después de Abraham, Noé, Moisés y Jesús. Existen una serie de ramas del islam, de las cuales las principales son el sunismo y el chiismo. El sufismo es una derivación esotérica del islam. La mezquita propiamente dicha es un lugar de reunión y de oración, y en general se consideran lugares sagrados las que contienen mausoleos importantes.

Sunism

It is the most important Muslim community, with almost ninety percent of the faithful. They consider that Muhammad's successors should be so because of their ability and not because of blood ties with the prophet. Sunnism is divided into schools, in order of rigor, Janafi, Shafi'i, Malikí and Hanbali. The latter is what serves the Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia, which accepts only a literal interpretation of Islam.

Shiism

Shiism is a branch of Islam that continues to consider imams descended from Muhammad's family as its highest authority. Upon the death of the prophet, they accepted Ali&action=edit&redlink=1 "Alí (Muhammad's cousin) (not yet written)"), his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor.

Sufism

Sufism is an esoteric form of Islam that brings together various trends and brotherhoods, which study the highest aspects of the teachings of Muhammad in order to achieve knowledge of the god Allah. The Sufi brotherhoods or tariqas emerge from the century onwards and give rise to the various orders. Many are named after their founder or the most important saint in their history, and the mausoleums, sanctuaries or tombs of these saints are among the sacred places of the Sufis, of which we will only mention some of the most important.

Some of the most important Sufi orders are: Burhani"), Chishti"), Jerrahi"), Kubrawiya"), Qadiriyya, Mevlevi, Muridiyah"), Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi"), Safaviyeh"), Sarwari Qadiri"), Shadhili, Shadhili, Tijani") and Zahediyeh").

Religion of India founded in the century by Mahāvīrá, a contemporary of Buddha. This variant of Hinduism rejects the caste system, the authority of the Vedas and ritual sacrifices. For the Yainas, the salvation of the material and impure soul requires strict asceticism, intense meditation and rigorous control of the passions. The Yainas, about four million in India, cannot exercise violence against any living being.

The four holy cities of Israel for the Jews are as follows:.

The four sacred mountains of Judeo-Christianity, on which a significant event has taken place or there is a belief in it, are:

The place where Jews gather to pray is the synagogue, at the same time a community or religious board. Some of the most important and objects of pilgrimage for Jews around the world are:

Hasidism is the latest Jewish mystical movement, which originally proposes the practice of goodness guided by one's own heart, not because it is imposed by rules. Its own name means 'practice of piety and kindness' in Hebrew. It was founded in the century by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer. Currently it is an Orthodox Jewish movement.

It includes the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian religions developed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in the Fertile Crescent, except in the Levantine area and the Nile.

This religion originating in Japan includes the worship of kami or nature spirits, in the animism way, so that some are very particular and others are more generic in nature, such as the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Shinto or Shintoism also includes the worship of ancestors, whose spirits remain at a higher level of existence.

Sikhism was born in the century by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), as a response to the clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Nanak himself, the first of the ten gurus of the Sikhs, was a Hindu. He proclaimed the existence of a single god, the one with the true name, who was the only and authentic reality. Sikhism is against the Hindu caste system and every Sikh must comply with five basic precepts: not cutting their hair, carrying a small comb to tie it up, a metal bracelet, long underwear and a small ceremonial dagger. When India became independent, the Sikh region, Punjab, was divided between India and Pakistan.

Taoism comes from the teachings of Lao Tzu in the 5th century BC. C., which were captured in the Tao Te Ching. According to his teachings, the path to achieve truth is: the path of conciliation, the renunciation of violence and the search for virtue and immortality. Elements of Buddhism and Confucianism are mixed in Taoism. Currently, its teaching comes from the United States, where the main teachers have settled. The five sacred mountains of Taoism are associated with the four cardinal points plus the center.

The Yazidis call themselves dawasi. Their neighbors, the Sunni Muslims, call them "devil worshipers" and have persecuted them for centuries. Yazidism is a syncretic religion that combines Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism and Christian Nestorianism, with Sufi and Shiite elements of Islam and has many variants. Of their 300,000 practitioners, 150,000 live in the Jebel Sinjar Mountains and the Shaikhan district of northwestern Iraq. Another 50,000 live in Armenia and other Caucasian states, and the remainder live in southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, and Western Europe as emigrants, especially Germany, where there may be as many as 50,000. The Yazidis believe in a supreme god who has delegated the government of the world to a hierarchy of seven angels ruled by Melek Taus.

His name in Arabic is Shaitán (Satan) and it should not be pronounced because it represents the devil and is very feared. One of the curiosities of Yazidi culture is the prohibition of eating lettuce, since they say that Satan once hid in one of them. They cannot wear dark blue clothing and underwear must be white.