CTH Virtual World Tour Part 2

In the Path of Abrahamic Religions – Reverence and Pilgrimage, Addressing the three Abrahamic religions in order of appearance; Judaism, Christianity, Islam. (Stories for each noted port are CTH book#)

This segment of the world tour begins in the Near East for all three religions, then moves to ports of note in the diaspora, and to ports of pilgrimage. Also included are ports where significant historic markers exist. As in this entire project, choice of ports is subjective. Comments are welcome. 

Consider this a world cruise brochure, a brief signposting of cumulative impact to world history. Think beyond where to travel to consider impact of place on human events. Rather than count countries or World Heritage Sites visited, consider counting visits to stepstones in societal development, port to port. How many ports on this World Tour have you visited?

We begin Part 2 with capstone Port Ashdod, access to Jerusalem. (CTH#3) 

There is no city in the world today as sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims as Jerusalem. Viewed from a distance, the city of limestone appears as if built of gold on top a hill. Within Jerusalem’s walls occurred events of the Old Testament and beginning of the New. Jerusalem is and has always been the center of monotheism. Jerusalem is built of the Rocks of Ages.

It was in Jerusalem that David united quarreling tribes under the Law of Moses and became king of Israel. It was in a garden nearby that Jesus met with his disciples before he was crucified on a hill close to the City of David.  It was to Jerusalem that Mohamed sped on his midnight ride to receive the word of Allah, bringing peace to warring tribes.  

 It was within city walls that Cain slew Abel and Noah prayed before the great flood. It is the place of the Calvary of Christ. It is the first city of the Quran. 

Jericho is older, 

Mecca is larger, and 

Rome is more powerful.  

Jerusalem stands above all as the eternal city of pilgrimage.

Hebrew history is notable in diaspora, in part due to ancient intermittent famine in lands of Israel and travel to Egypt. In Port Cairo today is a synagogue museum. Also accessed from Ashdod is Masada a World Heritage Site, where Hebrews took their lives rather than submit to Roman soldiers. (CTH#5) 

The Spanish/Portuguese inquisition of 1492 dispersed Jews to Port Amsterdam (CTH#12) location of the largest Portuguese synagogue and historic synagogues in Port Cochin, Paradisi Synagogue (CTH#13) and Port Dubrovnik (CTH#2), where Jewish doctors exiled from Venice built a water system that kept the city healthy in times of plague. Visit the Jewish Ghetto in Port Venice (CTH#2).

Port Haifa gives access to the route of travels of Jesus in the Holy Land, including Capharnaum Synagogue and River Jordan. In Jerusalem are Stations of the Cross, Garden of Gethsemane, and Calvary (Golgotha), site of Jesus’ crucifixion, all pilgrimage sites. (CTH#3)

Disciples of Jesus dispersed to spread the word. Saint Peter was escaping persecution in Rome, when he encountered the Lord heading toward the city. He asked “Lord, where are you going (Domine Quo Vadis)?” and the answer, “To Rome to be crucified anew,” caused the saint to change direction and meet his fate. Port Civitavecchia, access to Rome, is also access to Quo Vadis Church, which covets footprints of the saint at the point of revelation on the Appian Way, leading to catacombs and initial burial site of the saint.(CTH#1)

Port Cochin (CTH#13) is near the landing of St. Thomas in India in 52, where Saint Thomas Christians guard his footprints, although his remains are in Italy. Saint Paul shipwrecked on the coast of Malta in 60, and was sheltered in a cave, now under a church accessed from Port Valletta (CTH#5). Port Kusadasi, access to Ephesus, is also access to St. John’s Basilica and the House of the Virgin Mary. Jesus assigned safeguarding of the Virgin Mary to John. In Port Alexandria, Egypt remembers Saint Mark in St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, although relics of St. Mark rest in Venice. The Cave of the Apocalypse at Port Patmos, now a monastery, is where St. John the Theologian received a vision inscribed in the Book of Revelation. (CTH#3)

Walk where St. Nicholas preached in Port Antalya, before his remains went to Port Bari, Italy. (CTH#2) Dispute over remains of the saint are ongoing.

Port Goa is home to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, where 16^th century Society of Jesus co-founder Jesuit Saint Francis lies in state (most of him). (CTH#13) Although he was often seasick, Saint Francis traveled from Mozambique to China and Japan, gaining converts and ministering to the sick. Visit a Jesuit mission to educate indigenous people of Brazil at Port Salvador de Bahia.(CTH#9)

A leading city in the ancient world, Rome was a first city in the Christian world, led in part by Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, who established his capital in Byzantium, and founded Port Constantinople (Istanbul). Christians made pilgrimages to the Christian capitals of Jerusalem, Rome, and Port Ravenna. (CTH#2) Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I, the Roman emperor who convened the first council of Christian bishops to establish a Christian creed, endowed Ravenna in 5^thcentury mosaic-adorned churches, in the style of Constantine. When the church in Constantinople burned in a riot after a sports event, the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I replaced it with the Hagia Sofia in 537. Port Jeddah is access to Saint Catherine in Sinai, home of the burning bush of Moses and a pilgrimage destination begun in 337 CE by Helen, mother of Constantine. (CTH#5)

 In the 9^th century, remains of St. James were revealed to enterprising King Alfonso II of Spain in remote northwestern Spain. The king built a chapel commemorating the miracle. Millions of pilgrims over the centuries donned a seashell symbol of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela on the Way of St. James, arriving at Port Vigo or A Coruña. CTH#1)

In Ireland, St. Columba caused blood of monks to flow in a battle over a copy of an illuminated psalter, like the Book of Kells in Port Dublin, and banished himself to Iona in the 6^th century at Port Tobermory. In Port Belfast follow the route of St. Patick as he established monasteries, foundational sites of modern Northern Ireland. (CTH#10 & #16 Laws)

Prophet Mohamed traveled from Medina to Mecca in 629 with his generals. Port Jeddah is a World Heritage Site entry to hajj in Mecca. An amir cut a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea enabling grain transport to feed pilgrims to Mecca at Port Luxor. In 1453 the Ottoman Empire, having adopted Islam, entered Constantinople, renaming their capital Port Istanbul. The Hagia Sofia became a mosque, joining stunning mosques of Istanbul. (CTH#3 & #5)

Islam spread with merchants in camel caravans across the Sahara Desert and wherever oceans of the ancient world enabled trade. Great mosques are visited in Port Chania Mosque of Janissaries; Hassan II Mosque Port Casablanca; Great Mosque in Port Limassol, Cyprus; Port Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and throughout the Arab world. (CTH#3, 5, 13)  

Part 2 of the CTH World Tour ends with ports of reverence and pilgrimage at sites of descension in the church: the Great Schism of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy seen along Boka Bays of Port Kotor, noting Roman Catholic steeples and Eastern Orthodox domes; Reformation and factionalism in Christianity, seen in Port Belfast in Londonderry (Derry); and Holy Wars and crusades to the Islamic Holy Land seen in Port Acre.

Note: Ports listed in Part 2, and religious monuments reached from these ports are not exhaustive of possible ports of religious activity or all sites within reach of the port. The attempt is to list notable steps in history.

Next, the CTH World Tour of ports in human history continues to Part 3: Birth of Democracy, Free Commerce, Art, Exploration, and Innovation.

See 400 stories in Cruise through History storybooks available on Amazon.

Photos are property of Cruise through History, for use with permission.