This year, as they have for millennia, people will set out on pilgrimages. From Mecca to the Outer Hebrides, each of these journeys will be filled with spiritual and personal meaning – and as well as political statements, cultural battlegrounds and contested stories. Holy Places follows the trail of pilgrimage from the humble origins of the greatest faiths to sites of modern devotion and celebrity. In Rome, pilgrimage shaped the city’s streets in ways still visible today. Muxima in Angola testifies to the violent blending of Christianity and indigenous tradition. Tai Shan has helped generations of Chinese leaders cement power, while pilgrims to the Ganges must grapple with modern pollution as they seek spiritual purity in its waters. Pilgrimages have meant the start of faiths, the birth of cultures and the end of civilizations. Holy Places wrestles with the complex histories and contemporary endurance of one of our most fundamental human urges.

Review: One simply cannot do justice to Kathryn Hurlock’s vivid and remarkably wide-ranging page-turner * Country Life *
An account of the huge variety of human practice and belief over millennia * New Statesman *
Hurlock situates [ritual] in [a] broader context, and by narrating the history of nineteen shrines – from a range of religions and countries – she shows how ‘the activity of pilgrimage [has] shaped society, culture and politics from the ancient world to the present day’ — Guy Stagg * Times Literary Supplement *
Hurlock leads her readers to, into and through 19 international pilgrimage sites spread across the world … she writes engagingly, and with occasional, endearing impatience * Catholic Herald *
Often thought-provoking … [Hurlock] offers well-turned historical accounts of each place, picking out its distinctive features, rituals and traditions * BBC History Magazine *
An enjoyable and insightful romp through the history and geography of pilgrimage. Holy Places will make you question exactly what it is to be a pilgrim — Annabel Streets, author * The Walking Cure *
Here’s a book to stick in your backpack. Kathryn Hurlock takes us on a journey to 19 sacred sites around the world. Along the way she asks what are we looking for and what do we find when we get there ? * The Herald *
A timely, wide-ranging and well-researched book that expanded my understanding of pilgrimage — Tristan Gooley, author * How To Read A Tree *
A breathtaking journey through the history of pilgrimage, offering a vivid exploration of how sacred sites have shaped societies, cultures, and political landscapes across the globe. A truly essential work for understanding the intersection of faith, history, and the human spirit — Reza Aslan, author * No God But God *

Format: Hardback
Pages: 464
Imprint: Profile Books UK
Publication date: 27/05/2025