Sacred Spaces

Every Friday, Sufi dervishes whirl around the tomb in a trance-like state as part of a sacred ritual called dhikr.

This "synagogue" is not what it seems to be.

These Benedictine nuns have been making artisanal cheeses since before it was cool.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.

The R&B singer's modest church guarantees a religious experience, regardless of your beliefs.

A stunning hermit's shrine on a steep rocky spur in Northern Italy.

A Gothic-style abode built to accommodate the church's three resident peacocks.

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

The ruins of a medieval seminary some say is the oldest university site in Scotland.

The tiny church offers succor to travelers driving by, but only eight at a time.

A tribute to the intrepid explorer and his crew who perished in terrible conditions on an ill-fated expedition to the Arctic.

The headquarters in Salem doubles as an occult art gallery.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

The sacred shrine of the Yazidis.