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 21 — #’s 101-105

101. Segovia Cathedral, Segovia, Spain — This exquisite cathedral with its many spires sits on the main square of Segovia’s Old Town, a major gathering place for travelers and locals.

Segovia Cathedral

102. Seville Cathedral, Seville, Spain — This is the largest church in Spain. Its beautiful Giralda, once the tower of a mosque, can be seen for a long distance. The cathedral claims to contain the bones of Christopher Columbus, although several other churches claim the same thing.

Seville Cathedral

103. Shrine of La Leche, St Augustine, Florida, USA — This was the first shrine in the United States dedicated to the Holy Mother. The first structure was erected on this site in the early 1600s.

Shrine of La Leche

104. Siena Duomo — Siena’s glorious cathedral rivals those of Florence and Milan. The mosaics on the façade are beautiful and the church is formidable with its black and white-striped marble.

Siena Duomo

105. Sistene Chapel, Vatican City — The most celebrated ceiling in the world was painted by Michelangelo in the Sistene Chapel. This is the room where voting takes place when a pope dies. The panels depict historical scenes from the Bible.

Sistene Chapel Ceiling