Site directory

UNESCO only Vatican official pilgrimage site

The Vatican filter uses the flags in the source pin list ('バチカン公式巡礼地' in the pin name); only 2 pins carry it so far. Entries marked 'unverified' are imported pins not yet researched.

Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument & Museum (Nishizaka Hill)

NagasakiMartyrdom (1597–1873)verified

Site where 26 Christians (Japanese, Spanish, Mexican and Portuguese-linked missionaries and laymen) were crucified on 5 February 1597 on Hideyoshi's orders. Canonized in …

Ōura Cathedral (Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan)

NagasakiRediscovery (1865–1873)UNESCOMinor basilicaverified

First church completed 1864 by French MEP priests Louis Furet and Bernard Petitjean and dedicated to the 26 Martyrs (canonized 1862). On 17 March 1865 Hidden Christians f…

Urakami Cathedral

NagasakiRediscovery (1865–1873)verified

Built by the Urakami Catholic community after the 'fourth Urakami persecution' (Yonban Kuzure, 1867–73) exiles returned; completed 1925. Destroyed by the atomic bomb on 9…

Nyokodō (Takashi Nagai's hut)

NagasakiModern (1873–)verified

Two-mat hut where Catholic physician and atomic-bomb survivor Dr. Takashi Nagai lived and wrote until his death in 1951. Adjacent Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum.…

Santo Domingo Church Site Museum

NagasakiChristian Century (1549–1614)partly verified

Excavated remains of a Dominican church built 1609 and destroyed 1614 after the ban.…

Shitsu Church & Sotome villages

NagasakiHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOpartly verified

Sotome area villages where Hidden Christians maintained their faith; Shitsu Church built 1882 by Fr. Marc de Rotz. Component of the UNESCO 'Hidden Christian Sites' (Villa…

Ōno Church

NagasakiRediscovery (1865–1873)UNESCOpartly verified

Small stone church built 1893 by Fr. de Rotz in the 'de Rotz wall' style. Part of the UNESCO Shitsu and Ōno villages component.…

Hara Castle ruins

Shimabara & AmakusaChristian Century (1549–1614)UNESCOverified

Final stronghold of the Shimabara–Amakusa Rebellion (1637–38); most defenders, many of them Christians, were killed. UNESCO component.…

Unzen Jigoku (Unzen Hells)

Shimabara & AmakusaMartyrdom (1597–1873)verified

Volcanic hot springs where Shimabara lord Matsukura Shigemasa, and later Nagasaki magistrates, tortured and killed Christians with boiling water. The first recorded group…

Sakitsu Village & Church (Amakusa)

Shimabara & AmakusaHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Fishing village where Hidden Christians disguised devotions using local Shinto and fishing objects. Gothic church built 1934 on the site of a former village headman's hou…

Kasuga Village & Mt Yasumandake (Hirado)

Hirado & IkitsukiHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Hidden Christian village worshipping in the landscape (Mt Yasumandake) and sacred sites. UNESCO component 'Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado'.…

Nakaenoshima Island

Hirado & IkitsukiMartyrdom (1597–1873)UNESCOverified

Uninhabited island where Christians were executed in the 1620s; venerated by Hidden Christians as a sacred site. UNESCO component; viewed from a distance (no landing).…

St Francis Xavier Memorial Church (Hirado)

Hirado & IkitsukiChristian Century (1549–1614)verified

Built in 1913 as Hirado Catholic Church and rebuilt on its present site in 1931. Renamed St Francis Xavier Memorial Church after a statue was erected in 1971 to mark Xavi…

Kuroshima Village & Church

Goto & islandsHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOpartly verified

Island resettled by Hidden Christians; Romanesque brick church completed 1902 by Fr. Marmand. UNESCO component.…

Egami Village (Naru Island)

Goto & islandsHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Settlement of Hidden Christians; wooden Egami Church built 1918 by Tetsukawa Yosuke. UNESCO component.…

Hisaka Island villages

Goto & islandsHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Island where Hidden Christian migrants settled; site of the 1868 'Goto persecution'. Old Gorin Church relocated here. UNESCO component.…

Kashiragashima Village

Goto & islandsHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Remote island once used as a leprosy refuge, settled by Hidden Christians; stone church completed 1919 by Tetsukawa Yosuke. UNESCO component.…

Nozaki Island village ruins

Goto & islandsHidden Christians (1614–1865)UNESCOverified

Former Hidden Christian settlement, now uninhabited; former Nokubi Church (1908). UNESCO component.…

Dozaki Church (Fukue)

Goto & islandsRediscovery (1865–1873)partly verified

First church built in the Goto Islands after the ban was lifted (current brick building 1908); now a museum of Hidden Christian artifacts.…

Xavier landing / Xavier Church (Kagoshima)

KagoshimaChristian Century (1549–1614)verified

Francis Xavier landed at Kagoshima on 15 August 1549, beginning the mission in Japan. Xavier Memorial Park and church in the city.…

Yamaguchi Xavier Memorial Church

YamaguchiChristian Century (1549–1614)partly verified

Commemorates Xavier's mission in Yamaguchi (1550–51) under daimyo Ōuchi Yoshitaka, where Lorenzo Ryōsai was baptized.…

Funai (Ōita) – Ōtomo Sōrin sites

OitaChristian Century (1549–1614)verified

Ōtomo Sōrin, the 'King of Bungo' in Jesuit records, received Xavier in 1551 and was baptized Francisco in 1578.…

Takatsuki Castle ruins / Takayama Ukon statue

KansaiChristian Century (1549–1614)verified

Takayama Ukon (Dom Justo), Christian daimyo of Takatsuki, gave up his status rather than renounce his faith, was exiled to Manila in 1614 and died there on 5 February 161…

Kanazawa Catholic Church (Ukon memorial)

HokurikuChristian Century (1549–1614)partly verified

Ukon spent ~26 years in Kanazawa under the Maeda clan before his 1614 exile; a statue commemorates him.…

Starting point of the 26 Martyrs (Kyoto)

KansaiMartyrdom (1597–1873)partly verified

In January 1597 the martyrs had part of their left ears cut in Kyoto before the march to Nagasaki. Exact location uncertain; commemorated by a marker near Ichijō Modoriba…

Great Martyrdom of Kyoto memorial (Rokujō–Kamogawa)

KansaiMartyrdom (1597–1873)verified

On 6 October 1619, 52 Christians, 11 of them children, were burned at Rokujō-gawara on the Kamo River (near today's Shōmen Bridge) on the orders of shogun Tokugawa Hideta…

Osaka-jō Hall area – 2017 Ukon beatification

KansaiModern (1873–)verified

Venue of Takayama Ukon's beatification Mass, 7 February 2017.…

Great Martyrdom of Edo memorial (Takanawa)

KantoMartyrdom (1597–1873)verified

In December 1623, about 50 Christians, including Jerome de Angelis and Simon Yempo, were burned at Fuda-no-tsuji, Takanawa. Memorial near Sengakuji.…

Juan Goto Memorial Hall (Mizusawa)

TohokuChristian Century (1549–1614)partly verified

Memorial to Christian samurai Juan Goto (c.1577–c.1638), lord of Fukuwara under Date Masamune, builder of the Juan-zeki canal.…

Hirose River martyrs (Sendai)

TohokuMartyrdom (1597–1873)verified

Early in 1624 the Jesuit Diogo de Carvalho was martyred in a pit of icy water from the Hirose River in Sendai, with companions.…

Otome-tōge Chapel (Tsuwano)

ChugokuRediscovery (1865–1873)verified

Urakami Hidden Christians arrested in the 'Urakami Yonban Kuzure' were exiled here and tortured. Otome-tōge Maria Seidō, dedicated 1951, is a memorial to 37 Christians pe…

Church of the Gesù (Xavier's arm relic), Rome

RomeChristian Century (1549–1614)verified

Jesuit mother church in Rome; Xavier's right forearm relic is kept here (his body is in Bom Jesus, Goa).…

Hasekura & Tenshō embassy sites, Rome

RomeChristian Century (1549–1614)partly verified

The Tenshō embassy (1585) and Hasekura Tsunenaga (1615) were received in Rome by the Pope. Placeholder location: Piazza del Gesù area; specific sites to research. [Uncert…