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Ask which sacred place belongs to the most religions and Jerusalem is the obvious answer to reach for. It is not what the atlas's own count actually shows, and the reason why is as interesting as the result.

Three Places, Four Religions Each

Three sites are recorded here as sacred to four religions each, the highest count anywhere in the atlas. Mount Kailash, with its neighbouring Lake Manasarovar, is recorded as holy ground to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the Bon tradition of Tibet. Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka carries a single footprint at its summit that Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity each read as evidence of a different figure having stood there. Mount Song, the mountain the Shaolin monastery stands on, is recorded sacred to Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religion at once.

Where Jerusalem Sits in the Count

The Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif, the walled platform at the heart of Jerusalem's holy claims, is recorded sacred to three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. That puts it just behind the three mountains, and the gap is really a fact about how the record is built rather than about how important the ground is. Jerusalem's sanctity in the atlas is spread across several separate pages rather than gathered under the city itself, so no single entry can carry the city's full weight of religious claims in one count. The mountains above simply happen to be recorded as one place each.

Where To Read More

• Mount KailashHindu SitesTied for the atlas's highest count, sacred to four religions at once
• Adam Peak (Sri Pada)Buddhist SitesOne footprint, read as evidence by four different religions
• Mount SongChinese State Religion SitesThe mountain Shaolin stands on, sacred to four traditions at once
• The Temple Mount and al-Haram al-SharifJewish SitesJerusalem's own entry in the count, three religions and one page among several