Category

Holy Cities

The cities Scripture names and the faithful still walk.

The holy cities of Christianity are where faith, history and daily life still share the same streets. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Rome anchor this guide to the most important Christian cities to visit — what to see in each, how many days to allow, the pilgrimage seasons to plan around and the churches, quarters and holy sites that make each city essential.

13 destinations

5/5 Significance

Selçuk, Turkey

Ephesus

Paul spent three years here, a riot broke out over his preaching, and the ruins are among the best-preserved in the Mediterranean.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Antakya, Turkey

Antioch (Antakya)

Where the disciples were first called Christians, and where Paul's missionary journeys began.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Nasiriyah, Iraq

Ur of the Chaldees

The Sumerian city Abraham left when the call came.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem

The city at the centre of the biblical story — temple, crucifixion, resurrection and the promise of a city to come.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Bethlehem, Palestine

Bethlehem

David's hometown and the birthplace of Jesus — a small hill town that Scripture keeps returning to.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Nazareth, Israel

Nazareth

The obscure Galilean village where Jesus grew up, now the largest Arab city in Israel.

5/5 · Scripturally central

5/5 Significance

Hebron, Palestine

Cave of the Patriarchs

Abraham's burial field, enclosed by Herod and never abandoned.

5/5 · Scripturally central

4/5 Significance

Jericho, Palestine

Jericho

The oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, with a Neolithic tower older than the pyramids and walls that made it famous.

4/5 · Major biblical site

4/5 Significance

Hillah, Iraq

Babylon

The empire of the exile, and the city of the prophets' laments.

4/5 · Major biblical site

4/5 Significance

Mosul, Iraq

Nineveh

The Assyrian capital Jonah was sent to, its walls and gates still tracing a vast rectangle across the Tigris from Mosul.

4/5 · Major biblical site

4/5 Significance

Damascus, Syria

Straight Street, Damascus

The Roman high street where Ananias found the blinded Saul and the persecutor became an apostle.

4/5 · Major biblical site

4/5 Significance

Rome, Italy

Rome

The capital that killed the apostles and then carried their church across the world.

4/5 · Major biblical site

3/5 Significance

Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia

For nine hundred years the largest cathedral in the world — Justinian's dome, then a mosque, then a museum, then a mosque again.

3/5 · Well attested