Sacred Earth

Acclaimed photographer and anthropologist Martin Gray spent the last 20 years on an amazing pilgrimage: he visited 1,000 sacred sites in 80 countries around the world. His journey unfolds in a remarkable compilation of images that reveals just how devoutly pre-industrial cultures everywhere worshipped and respected our Earth. From the Western Wall to the Great Mosque of Damascus, Mt. Olympus to Assisi, Tibet’s Potala Palace to Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, Teotihuacán in Mexico to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, these are the awe-inspiring places from which all the world’s great religions sprang, along with our finest culture, art, and architecture. Gray’s stunning photographs and fascinating text provide unique insight into why these powerful holy places are the most venerated and visited sites on the entire planet. Maps adapted from the National Geographic Society show the locations of all the sites presented, and a thorough appendix includes a comprehensive list of over 500 of the world’s sacred sites.

Martin Gray’s work has been published by National Geographic. During the past 15 years, he has presented slide shows on the extraordinary beauty and precarious situation of the world’s sacred sites to more than 125,000 people on four continents. His award-winning website, www.sacredsites.com, has received more than six million visitors.
About the foreword author:
Graham Hancock was formerly a correspondent for both the Economist and the London Sunday Times. His books, including Sign and the Seal (Crown 1992) and Fingerprints of the Gods (Crown 1995), have been international best-sellers.