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13 across Europe

Sacred site

  1. Chant in a rock-cut chamber

    Singers perform in the carved chambers because the acoustics are extraordinary; the sound arrives from the stone itself.

    Garni & Geghard, Armenia · low

  2. A night in a monastery cell

    Simple rooms, an early curfew, and the courtyard entirely to yourself at dawn.

    Rila Monastery, Bulgaria · low

  3. The barn-roofed painted churches

    Small stone chapels under enormous pitched roofs, frescoed inside floor to ceiling; several need a key fetched from a village house.

    Omodos & the wine villages, Cyprus · low

  4. The sacred way at opening

    The site opens at eight and the coaches arrive at ten. Two hours of Delphi alone is a different place from Delphi at noon.

    Delphi, Greece · low

  5. The acoustics at Epidaurus

    Sit in the top row and have someone whisper on the orchestra floor. Built in the 4th century BC and still unexplained in full.

    Nafplio, Greece · low

  6. Up to the hermitage on foot

    An hour uphill through holm oak to the caves Francis actually used, which are quieter and more convincing than the basilica.

    Assisi, Italy · low

  7. Vespers at San Miniato

    Gregorian chant in an 11th-century church above the city, at 17:30, free, and almost always uncrowded.

    Florence, Italy · low

  8. The Hill of Crosses

    Not a monument — an act repeated by hundreds of thousands of people, most of them anonymous, over two centuries.

    Šiauliai, Lithuania · low

  9. The cathedral, from the workshop side

    The stoneyard has been cutting replacement blocks continuously for a century; see that before you see the nave.

    Trondheim, Norway · low

  10. The blue at Voroneț

    A 1547 exterior fresco whose blue has not faded in five hundred winters, and whose recipe is still not known.

    Gura Humorului & the painted monasteries, Romania · low

  11. The Nasrid palaces, on a timed ticket

    Half-hour entry slots, sold out weeks ahead. Take the earliest of the day — the courtyards were designed for low light and few people.

    Granada, Spain · moderate

  12. Up the dome of St Peter's

    The staircase follows the curve of the dome and tilts with it; the reward is the whole of Rome and the gardens nobody else sees.

    Vatican City, Vatican City · low

  13. The scavi, under the basilica

    A Roman street of tombs beneath the church, ending at what may be St Peter's grave. Twelve people at a time, booked by email, months ahead.

    Vatican City, Vatican City · moderate