History Main / HolyCity

* The Citadel of Kom, capital of the {{Theocracy}} of Omnia and centre of the Church of Om in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/SmallGods'' is a Vatican-style holy city. (It's also in the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Discworld version]] of the Middle East, about where Jerusalem would be...)

* ''StargateSG1'' has Celestis, a holy city populated entirely by the Priors of the Ori, and located on a vast, flat plain of very shallow water. The Ori themselves manifest a sacred eternal fire there that they use to communicate with the Doci, their head priest.

-->''The Holier the City the Wickeder it's People''
-->Attribited to Hadj pilgrims being fleeced in the bazaar of Mecca.

* For the Roman Catholic Church, UsefulNotes/VaticanCity and, by extension, the whole of [[TheEternalCity Rome]].

* Constantinople, before it was {{Istanbul}}, has some aspects of this for the Greek Orthodox Church.

Some cities are just places where a lot of people live and work. Some are [[CapitalCity seats of worldly authorities]], elevating them above others. And then there is the HolyCity, a site so intrinsically tied to a [[TheChurch particular religion]] that it became a symbol of faith all by itself. In peacetime, it will result in thousands to millions of devoted pilgrims visiting it every day. In wartime, expect it to be defended to the last breath, even more so than a national capital (unless it ''is'' the [[TheEternalCity national capital]]), and the consequences if it is ever sacked by an invader are [[DespairEventHorizon a lot graver]].

* Northen District of Mid-Childa in LyricalNanoha franchise, governed by the Saint Church.
* SailorMoon: The ruins of the Moon Kingdom on the moon. In the manga, Sailor Moon's power-up came from praying to the crystal tower.

* {{Foundation}}: Terminus is the holy ''planet'' of the Religion of Science.

* Cantisca for the Sole and Unified Church in the ArciaChronicles.

* [[PlanetTerra Holy Terra]] for the [[GodEmperor Imperial Cult]]/Ecclesiarchy in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'' introduced religions. Holy city is a city where religion started, and it can give considerable bonuses if religion will spread around the globe.

* Sienne in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]], home of the Tower of Guidance, Mainal Cathedral, and the Holy Apostle, Empress of Begnion.

* {{Jerusalem}} is probably the UrExample. It's ''the'' HolyCity of three world religions (in chronological order): Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

* {{Istanbul}}, formerly Constantinople, has some aspects of this for the Greek Orthodox.

* Salt Lake City is this for the Latter-Day Saints.
* Kyoto can be seen as this for Japan. Not only is it the seat of Shinto but also a revered historical city for secularist Japanese.

* The Hometree in ''{{Avatar}}'' serves as both a city and a sacred site for the Na'vi, though not as sacred as the Tree of Souls (which, on the other hand, isn't really a city).

* [[PlanetTerra Holy Terra]] for the [[GodEmperor Imperial Cult]]/Ecclesiarchy in ''Warhammer40K''.

* On Literature/{{Gor}} the one holy place is the Sardar Mountains, where the [[{{God}} Priest-Kings]] live. Four times a year, at the solstaces and equanoxes, there is a fair at the base of the mountain. Every Gorean is expected to attend the fair at least once before their 25th birthday.

* On {{Gor}} the one holy place is the Sardar Mountains, where the [[{{God}} Priest-Kings]] live. Four times a year, at the solstaces and equanoxes, there is a fair at the base of the mountain. Every Gorean is expected to attend the fair at least once before their 25th birthday.

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'' introduced religions. Holy city is a city where religion started, and it can give considerable bonuses if religion will spread around the globe.

* Sienne in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]], home of the Tower of Guidance, Mainal Cathedral, and the Holy Apostle, Empress of Begnion.

* ''{{Civilization}} IV'' introduced religions. Holy city is a city where religion started, and it can give considerable bonuses if religion will spread around the globe.

** Athur in Karrnath is a Vatican-style. It houses the Crimson Monastery of the Blood of Vol. The religion's true figurehead, Vol, lives somewhere else. The monastery is home to the cardinals who spread her teachings.

* ''DragonQuestVIII'' features several important religious locales home to the Templars, but none are more important than the Holy Isle of Neos. [[spoiler:The city and its population are systematically wiped out when [[TheManBehindTheMan Rhapthorne]] [[SealedEvilInACan finally escapes from his sceptre]] and levels the once-sacred place to serve as his stronghold, the Dark Citadel. Neos has some good equipment, [[LostForever so you might want to avoid the plot for a bit]].]]

* Kyoto can be seen as this for Japan. Not only is it the seat of Shinto but also a revered historical city for secularist Japanese.
* To a lesser extent, Canterbury in England. It was a very common destination for [[Literature/TheCanterburyTales pilgrimages]] on account of its beautiful cathedral and it being the site of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket.

* In Catherynne M. Valente's ''[[Literature/TheOrphansTales In The Night Garden]]'', the city of Al-a-Nur is a HolyCity where stand twelve Towers, each a temple for a completely different faith, from the Tower of Sun and Moon, to the Tower of Patricides, to the Tower of St. Sigrid, etc. In Al-a-Nur, all the different devotees live together in harmony.

* To a lesser extent, Canterbury in England. It was a very common destination for [[TheCanterburyTales pilgrimages]] on account of its beautiful cathedral and it being the site of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket.

* In Catherynne M. Valente's ''In The Night Garden,'' the city of Al-a-Nur is a HolyCity where stand twelve Towers, each a temple for a completely different faith, from the Tower of Sun and Moon, to the Tower of Patricides, to the Tower of St. Sigrid, etc. In Al-a-Nur, all the different devotees live together in harmony.

* Sienne in [[FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]], home of the Tower of Guidance, Mainal Cathedral, and the Holy Apostle, Empress of Begnion.

* Alexandria, seat of the Coptic Pope (who lives in Cairo these days, but who's counting?).

* Alexandria, seat of the Coptic Pope.

* At the time of [[TheElderScrolls Morrowind]], the province of Morrowind has three [[HolyCity Holy Cities]], one for each of the three Tribunal gods. Almalexia and Vivec are clear Vatican-style cities, as they not only house their titular gods but also high-ranking Temple officials (the head of the Temple in Vvardenfell in Vivec and the head of the Temple on the mainland in Almalexia). Sotha Sil... is a bit more complex, as the inhabiting god stays away from mortal affairs, and the city's location is unknown to mortals (and, as such, has no mortal inhabitants).