Churches and other religious/spiritual sites are some of the world’s most important attractions for travelers. The are typically the focal point of a city or village and reflect the culture and values of the region. Churches, especially, are significant architecturally and represent the best efforts of a community to express itself. Lee & I have been to hundreds of churches in our travels. Many of these have become unforgettable memories of a particular place. To actually rank these sites is virtually impossible. How can you choose between amazing sights such as Hagia Sophia, the Pantheon, and Mont-St-Michel? Therefore, I will present my favorite 150 spiritual places in installments of five (5), listed alphabetically. Many of my choices are World Heritage Sites and deserve to be preserved forever. Many are simply charming or may hold some special historical significance. Peruse the list and compare your list to mine. Obviously I have not been to all the spiritual places on Earth, but most of these would probably make the all-time list of the majority of world travelers.

Installment 19 — #’s 91-95

91. Riddarholmskyrkan, Stockholm, Sweden — Here is the church where many of Sweden’s monarchs have been laid to rest over the years. It is located on a small island across the bridge from Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town.

Riddarholmskyrkan

92. Rock Church (Tempelliaukio), Helsinki, Finland — One of the newest churches on my list, the Rock Church is hewn from rock, as its name suggests. It was completed in 1969 and has become one of Helsinki’s favorite attractions.

Rock Church Altar

93. Sacre Coeur, Paris, France — Once scoffed at by locals this gorgeous white church sits high above Paris at the top of Montmartre. Sacre Coeur mean “sacred heart” in French.

Sacre Coeur

94. San Carlos de Borromeo de Carmelo Mission, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA — The Carmel Mission is another of the churches established by Father Junipero Serra.

Carmel Mission

95. San Geronimo Church, Taos, New Mexico, USA — This is the village church of Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the mountains of northwest New Mexico.

San Geronimo