Religious Sites

13 days, 12 nights, May 6-18 & May 27-June 8, 2016. Highlights: In Sofia, BULGARIA, Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Sofia Synagogue, in community center listen to Ladino songs/Rila Monastery/in Kyustendil, Dimitar Peshev Museum/in Rhodope Mountains, 11th-century Bachkovo monastery/in Skopje, MACEDONIA, Holocaust Memorial Center, Bet Yaakov Synagogue/in Bitola, 15th-century Jewish cemetery/in GREECE, Royal Tombs of Vergina, Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. Land, $2,970 ppdo. Single supp., $560.

 8-day, 7-night, 70-mile walk to Santiago de Compostela, May 1-8, May 29-June 5 & Sept. 4-11, 2016. Highlights: From Vigo, SPAIN, drive to first-century Celtic ruins at Santa Tecla, Portugal/drive to the Camino pilgrimage route to begin the walk/Tui/walled town of Valença/Pontevedra/thermal waters at Caldas de Reis/Padrón/in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, city tour, Pilgrim Mass at the Cathedral. €1,600 (near $1,700) ppdo. Single supp., €400 ($425). Spanish Steps (Aspen, CO; 970/923-6859, www.spanishsteps.com).

Liz and Jack Kaufman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, wrote, “We have visited cemeteries all around the world. The best ones combine history with beautiful gardens and superb architecture… . We would like to read travelers’ recommendations for cemeteries to visit.”

15-day, 14-night voyage aboard 100-passenger Caledonian Sky, April 30-May 14, 2016. Highlights: Tokyo city tour/bullet train to Niigata to board ship/in medieval samurai town of Hagi, Tokoji Temple/Karato Fish Market/Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima/in Takamatsu on Shikoku, Shikoku Mura Village, Noguchi Garden Museum/disembark in Kobe/overland to Kyoto, Heian-jingu Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Cabin, $13,980-$19,880 ppdo. Single (limited), $20,780. Zegrahm Expeditions (Seattle, WA; 800/628-8747, www.zegrahm.com).

In Israel, protests by Palestinians at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem that began on Sept. 13 escalated into a series of stabbings and police retaliations in late September and into October. 

As of press time, Israeli security forces had killed at least 60 Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, with 11 Jewish Israelis killed in knife and gun attacks during the violence. Many more people were injured. Attacks occurred mostly in Jerusalem but also in the West Bank and other Israeli cities.

Purported to be the seamless garment that Jesus Christ wore before he hung on the cross, the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil will be displayed at the Basilica Saint-Denys d’Argenteuil (17 rue des Ouches, 95100 Argenteuil, France; phone +33 01 39 61 03 29, www.catholique95.com/basilargenteuil [in French only]), March 25-April 10, 2016, in honor of the Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis.

Usually displayed only once every 50 years (last in 1984), the tunic has been kept in Argenteuil since around 800.

Five hundred years after it was built in the 16th century, visitors to the Vittala Temple complex in Hampi, Karnataka, in southern India, can still see the Stone Chariot, the subject of the September issue’s mystery photo.

Palestinian protesters entered Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque on Sept. 13 due to concerns among Palestinians that Israeli police might force open the al-Aqsa Mosque to Jewish worshipers during Rosh Hashanah (one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar). 

Palestinians armed with rocks and fire-bombs barricaded themselves in the mosque and used them against Israeli police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Both Palestinian aid organizations and Israeli police reported only minor injuries during the initial skirmishes. 

In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, high winds were blamed for the collapse of a crane into the Grand Mosque, which resulted in 107 people killed and nearly 200 injured on Sept. 11. 

The tragedy occurred just before the annual Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, where pilgrims enter the Grand Mosque to walk around the Kaaba, a holy building in its center courtyard, seven times. This year’s Hajj began at the end of September. 

The Grand Mosque has been undergoing construction to expand it by 4.3 million square feet in order to accommodate up to 2.2 million people.