Stories & Legends

Ancient manuscript page from an early pilgrimage journal, evoking Egeria's writings
Story 4th century CE

Egeria: The First Pilgrim Writer

A fourth-century woman whose detailed letters from the Holy Land provide the earliest surviving first-person account of Christian pilgrimage.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built at the site where Helena found the True Cross
Story 3rd-4th century CE

Helena and the True Cross: A Pilgrimage Story

How the mother of Emperor Constantine traveled to the Holy Land in the fourth century and shaped the geography of Christian pilgrimage for all time.

Arabic calligraphy manuscript recalling the travel writings of Ibn Battuta
Story 14th century CE

Ibn Battuta: The Pilgrim Traveler

How a young Moroccan scholar's Hajj journey in 1325 became one of the greatest travel narratives in human history. In June 1325, a twenty-one-year-old.

Statue of Kobo Daishi (Kukai) at a temple surrounded by greenery in Japan
Story 8th-9th century CE

Kōbō Daishi and the Shikoku Circuit — Pilgrim Guide

The life and legacy of Kūkai, the monk who founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan and whose spirit is believed to accompany every pilgrim on the Shikoku 88...

The twin towers of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, linked to the legend of Saint James
Story 1st century CE - Medieval period

The Legend of Saint James: A Pilgrimage Story

The traditional narrative surrounding the apostle James and the origins of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage. James the son of Zebedee appears in the.

Medieval European town with a church, evoking the pilgrimages of Margery Kempe
Story 14th-15th century CE

Margery Kempe: The Medieval Pilgrim

An English laywoman whose dramatic pilgrimages and mystical experiences produced the first autobiography in the English language.

Pilgrims near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, recalling Rabbi Nachman's journey to the Holy Land
Story 18th century CE

Rabbi Nachman's Journey to Israel

How the founder of Breslov Hasidism undertook a perilous pilgrimage to the Land of Israel in 1798 that shaped his teachings and his movement.

Buddhist pagoda temple evoking Xuanzang's pilgrimage journey from China to India
Story 7th century CE

Xuanzang: The Buddhist Pilgrim

A seventh-century Chinese monk whose seventeen-year journey to India in search of Buddhist scriptures became one of history's great pilgrimage narratives.