Encyclopedia of Sacred Places

By Norbert C. Brockman

Book Overview

In traditions as old as the henges of Stone Age Britain and as new as Himmler's Nazi antishrine at Verden, in spots as inaccessible as the hermit caves dug into the high cliffs at Meteora and as crowded as downtown Bangkok, humans have sought ways to honor the sacred. The Encyclopedia of Sacred Places records the rich and varied legacy of this quest. In over 200 articles, author Norbert Brockman accompanies the reader on a Grand Pilgrimage to the world's most important holy places--ancient and modern, grand and modest, natural and man-made. Readers will visit sacred rivers, mountains, and springs; altars where mysterious prehistoric rites and sacrifices were performed; sites of miracles; tombs of saints; shrines for holy relics; and memorials to victims of the Holocaust, the atom bomb, and the slave trade.

In A-to-Z format, the Encyclopedia describes not only these places themselves but important related concepts such as pilgrimage, relic, and ex-voto. Each article examines the origin of a site, its history, and its meaning to the religious tradition involved. In addition to a physical description, each article provides details of a site's construction, its place in larger pilgrimage routes, and any difficulties a traveler might experience in reaching the site. Every article is followed by an up-to-date list of resources for further study, as well as cross references that direct the reader to related entries. A glossary defines technical terms specific to particular traditions.

With vivid descriptions of sites drawn from all faiths, cultures, and corners of the world, The Encyclopedia of Sacred Places will help readers of all ages and backgrounds comprehend both the universal human desire to honor the sacred and the infinite variety of its expressions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195127390
• ISBN13: 9780195127393
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

a fine reference work

This reference work contains short articles on places of religious and spiritual traditions; categories of interest include: places associated with a prophet, saint, or deity; sites of miracles, visions or rituals; tombs of saints; shrines; the ancestral or mythical abodes of the gods; places that manifest the energies or mystical powers of nature; places marked by evil that have been a turning point for a religious community; and one secular shrine, the Pere Lachaise Cemetery of Paris. There 13 sites from Africa; 16 from North & Central America; 3 from South America; 9 from Asia & the South Pacific; 7 from China & Korea; 17 from Northern, 22 from Southern and 40 from Western Europe; 14 from India, Sri Lanka & Nepal; 11 from Japan; 18 from the Middle East; and 3 from the Pacific.Beginning with the Aachen Cathedral in Germany and continuing through the Zebrzygowska Chapel in Poland, each entry is one to three pages long and is followed by a list of two or three references. As with any reference work, the appendices are important, and the Encyclopeida of Sacred Places does a fine job of making these articles accessible by offering maps as well as a glossary, bibliography and index, and appendices organized by religious tradition, by country, and by inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage List of Cultural Sites.If anything could have improved this book it would have been more pictures (there are approximately 25 here for over 150 entries), and of course one wishes it were longer and more inclusive, but that is always the way with reference resources.