This page groups sacred sites by their physical type. Wikipedia lists "sacred groves... sacred mountains, sacred trees, sacred waters, tombs" among the recognized types of sacred place. Browsing by site type lets a visitor compare a sacred mountain against a sacred spring or a venerated tomb.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingPlaces a tradition itself treats as holy, or as a centre of practice, grouped by the tradition that holds them so. The grounds recorded are the grounds the tradition gives - a theophany held to have happened there, the presence of relics, a landscape feature read as a sign, or long ritual use - and a place sacred to several traditions is recorded under each claim, not assigned to one owner. 1 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryStandard. Sacred space is a standard analytic category in the study of religion. What is disputed is the explanation of it: whether holiness inheres in a place that discloses itself, or is conferred on a place by ritual and by human choice of where to act. The atlas records the grounds each tradition itself gives and does not settle that question. 1 Learn More
Places Treated as Holy
This category gathers the places traditions hold sacred or treat as centres of practice: temples, mountains, rivers, caves, oracles, stone circles and pilgrimage destinations. Each entry gives a location and the tradition or traditions for which the place is holy, and describes what is done there and why it is revered.
Sacredness is attached to places for many reasons (a theophany or miracle held to have occurred there, the presence of relics or a shrine, a striking feature of the landscape read as a sign, or long use as a site of ritual), and the entries record the grounds a tradition itself gives.
Layered and Contested Holiness
Many of the most important sites have been sacred to more than one tradition in succession or at once, and their history is one of reuse, sharing and sometimes conflict. A temple may stand where an older shrine stood; a single city or mountain may be holy to several religions with competing claims. The atlas records this layered history rather than assigning a place to one owner, and notes contested sites soberly.
The sites group by tradition (Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Indigenous and many more), so a browser can narrow from all sacred places to those of one culture.
Connections
Showing the first 400 of 449 connections.
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Sacred SpaceView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.