Popular Pilgrim Destinations

Millions of people around the world journey to different places for the purpose of thanksgiving, penance, petition and miracles. Pilgrimage as it is also called, is a spiritual tradition for many religions, a journey from bondage of sin to spiritual freedom, and a route toward God. For others, pilgrimage does not only occur when traveling to symbolic sites representing faith and foundations of religion like places of birth and death of early saints, monasteries or temples. It is also a personal journey where transformation in the heart transpires, when receiving blessings and offering thanksgiving takes place and life is never the same again. Some people experience this by returning to their homes and experience fellowship with their families on holidays such as Thanksgiving, Lenten Season, Christmas and the New Year. Others plan a visit to the most revered places known in history like some of these popular pilgrim destinations.   

1. Israel - Due to the number of people coming from different parts of the world who deem it sacred, the Holy Land is considered the holiest city. Favorite pilgrim sites in Israel are Bethlehem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Mt. Sinai, Mt. Tabor, the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre among many others. Christians revere the Holy Land because it is the place of birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To the Jews, it is the covenant of God to Abraham, the founding father of the Jewish faith, and to the Muslims, it is the place where Muhammad the prophet ascended to heaven. Even with Israel's relentless political crisis and religious war, it is still venerated and visited by religious pilgrims, holiday travelers and people who are attracted to its divinity and historical context.
2. Rome - This is the heart of the Catholic Church where millions of people, pilgrims and tourists alike flock to visit the St. Peter's Basilica, Patriarchal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the resting place of early Christian martyrs among others.
3. Camino de Santiago de Compostela - In English the Way of St. James, the Camino is the most journeyed pilgrim site in all of Europe. Thousands of people every year travel the roads to the shrine of St. James in the northwest region of Spain on foot, by bicycle or horseback from France, Budapest, Denmark and Portugal. Many people claim that even if you go there simply for the purpose of sightseeing, you are bound to recognize a deeper sense of spirituality.
4. Lourdes - Millions of Catholics visit this small town in the southwest of France famous for its Marian apparitions. It is where the Blessed Virgin herself allegedly appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on several occasions in 1858. Pilgrims visit the place to expect healing and miracles from the waters flowing from the grotto.
5. Iona - This small island has a significant place in the history of Christianity in Scotland and neighboring places in Europe when an Irish monk Colum Cille or Columbia established his monastic community, which became the first Christian settlement in Scotland and the heart of religious pilgrimage over the years. Thousands of people make pilgrimage traditionally on foot or horseback either for penance or thanksgiving. Pilgrims journey in prayer, asking for blessings, healing and peace.

People have different discernment of pilgrimage. For some it has somehow become synonymous with tourism, especially since people travel across the globe to reach their pilgrim destination, not to mention the fact that a lot of touring and sightseeing is involved along the way. The progress of tour packages and international pilgrimage organizations has become a constant phenomenon accordingly.