The Sacred Sites Bible: The Definitive Guide to Spiritual Places Book

From the towering minarets of Turkey's Hagia Sophia to the cloud-wrapped city of Machu Picchu in Peru, this captivating guide displays exquisite details of more than 100 spiritual landmarks around the world. Perfect for both the globe-trotting adventurer and the armchair traveler, it provides in-depth facts about the construction and religious significance of each location, as well as tips on the perfect time of year to visit. Full-color photographs show each stunning site as it looks today, while illustrations reconstruct the ancient buildings as they would have appeared at their height.

Library Journal

Religious tourism has inspired many recent books about pilgrimage and sacred sites. Taylor (director, Alliance for Lucid Living) has created a guide to over 100 natural and human-made sacred sites, here grouped and color coded in sections by type of site. Each entry includes a color photo and a key showing map location, spiritual tradition, date of construction, and when to visit, along with lucid and accessible descriptive text. As with many guidebooks, there are historical details that are incorrect. For example, for the Baha'i holy sites, Taylor erroneously calls 'Abdu'l-Baha "Abdul" with an incorrect death date, also mistakenly asserting that the Baha'i faith is the most widely practiced religion in Samoa. Taylor does not explain the reasoning behind his site selection. Religious experts in particular faiths may wonder why some sites were chosen over others (Taylor does not include the Taj Mahal as a sacred site and disclaims in his introduction the "Definitive" in the subtitle). VERDICT Albeit with some factual errors and exclusions, this is a well-organized and attractive guidebook for spiritual tourists thinking about where to travel.—William P. Collins, Library of Congress