Pilgrim by Gheorghe Tattarescu.

Religious pilgrims

Monument to pilgrims in Burgos, Spain

In the early period of Hebrew history, pilgrims traveled to Shiloh, Dan, Bethel, and eventually Jerusalem, leading the way for the other Abrahamic religions to include the practice. The great Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (now in Saudi Arabia), is obligatory for every able Muslim, and other Islamic devotional pilgrimages, particularly to the tombs of saints, are numerous. The early Christians made pilgrimages to the scenes of the Passion of Christ in Jerusalem. Even after Jerusalem had been occupied by the Saracens, the liberty of pilgrimage, on payment of a tax, was secured by treaty; the necessity of protecting pilgrims, however, gave rise to the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Templar.

While religious pilgrims usually travel toward a singular destination, a physical location is not a necessity. One group of pilgrims in early Celtic Christianity were the Peregrinari Pro Christ, (Pilgrims for Christ), or "white martyrs," where pilgrims left with the intent to wander.^[2] This sort of pilgrimage was an ascetic religious practice, leaving home and the clan for an unknown destination, in complete trust of Divine Providence. These travels often resulted in the founding of new abbeys and spreading Christianity among the pagan population in Britain as well as on continental Europe.

Cultural pilgrims

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Graceland, like many fans of Elvis Presley

Secular pilgrims are also found under communist regimes. These devotional but strictly secular pilgrims visited locations such as the Mausoleum of Lenin or Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, or the Birthplace of Karl Marx. Such visits were sometimes state-sponsored.

Notable pilgrims

Pope John Paul II was known as the "pilgrim pope" for his travels.

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad^[5]
• Bridget of Sweden
• Egeria
• Godric of Finchale
• Columba
• Mahatma Gandhi^[6]
• Ruslan Gelayev
• Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama and Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
• Ignatius of Loyola
• Pope John Paul II
• Mustapha Kartali
• Margery Kempe
• Junichiro Koizumi

References

Literature

• Documentation, of a modern pilgrimage to Rome. Kerschbaum & Gattinger, Via Francigena. DVD. Vienna: Verlag EUROVIA, 2005. ISBN 3200005009

External links

Traditional folk song about a pilgrim

• Pilgrims and Pilgrimage - An Online Teaching and Learning Resource
• The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela Wiki
• All about Pilgrimage and Ways in Europe from the EUROVIA Association
• Way of A Pilgrim Modern Christian pilgrim loosely based on the Russian Orthodox classic The Way of A Pilgrim
• How to be a pilgrim Theory & Practice
• Pilgrimages to Jerusalem Descriptions of pilgrimages to Jerusalem from the 3rd-20th centuries
• Medieval Pilgrims' Clothing Illustrations of 13th-16th century pilgrims, and links to photos of 16th century clothing made for pilgrimage
• Account of pilgrimage to Nidaros (Trondheim) in Norway on Olav's Way. With useful page about kit.
• Pilgrim Society from Canada

bg:???????? cs:Pou? da:Pilgrim de:Pilger eo:Pilgrimado et:Palverännak es:Peregrino fr:Pèlerinage gl:Peregrino de Santiago de Compostela he:????? ???? id:Peziarah it:Pellegrinaggio ja:?? ko:?? ?? la:Peregrinatio li:Baevaart nl:Bedevaart nn:Pilegrim no:Pilegrim nrm:Pèlerinnage pl:Pielgrzym (religia) pt:Peregrinação ru:????????????? simple:Pilgrimage sr:?????????? sv:Pilgrim zh:??