Religious Places

Gandan Monastery is a Tibetan-style Buddhist Monastery. Its name means ”the big place of complete joy”. Nowadays, many hundreds of monks live there. I… Read the rest

Arkadi Monastery is the most famous monastery on the island of Crete, and one of the most beautiful monasteries in Greece. It’s a small working East… Read the rest

Haeinsa Temple is the most important Buddhist monastery in South Korea. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monastery and temple are located in a mounta… Read the rest

One of Portugal’s most amazing hidden gems lies just beyond a bridge in Coimbra, Portugal: the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha. Visiting the Monaster… Read the rest

The vibrantly colored frescoes of the domed ceiling had me transfixed as I moved closer to San Sebastian Cathedral’s grand altar. The dome has several… Read the rest

As one of the smallest countries in the world, East Timor packs a lot of punch. Per capita, East Timor has the second largest practicing Catholic popu… Read the rest

Vank Cathedral is one of the world’s most beautiful cathedrals. It has an impressive collection of decorations that are an interplay of Armenian and P… Read the rest

Gdańsk’s most visible place of worship, St. Mary’s Basilica is believed to be the largest brick church in the world. The interior vault su… Read the rest

Inside the walls of the castle is the most magical cathedral surrounded by the tall castle walls. Its steeples and arches reaching toward the heavens… Read the rest

Situated on the river and surrounded by gardens, the walls of this working monastery date from the 1640s. A quiet place, the brooding five-domed Cathe… Read the rest