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Holy Land, USA

By
Editors

Christian tourists enjoy plenty of God-honoring vacation destinations across the United States.

(Luke Sharrett / Washington Post / Getty Images)

Ark Encounter

  • Location: Williamstown, Kentucky

  • Annual visitors: 810,000

  • Description: This theme park is best known for its 510-foot-long replica of Noah’s Ark, which features sculpted animal pairs, luxuriously appointed apartments for Noah and his waxen family members, and depictions of a pre-flood world in which humans and dinosaurs live side by side.

Cahokia Mounds

  • Location: Collinsville, Illinois

  • Annual visitors: 350,000

  • Description: This 4,000-acre expanse of earthen mounds, evidence of the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico, is both a bona fide UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Mormon mecca. Where secular visitors see the remains of the ancient Mississippian culture, Mormon tourists see evidence of the ancient Israelite culture described in the Book of Mormon; in one such earthen mound in Illinois, Joseph Smith himself claimed to have found the body of a Lamanite warrior named Zelph.

Palestine Gardens

  • Location: Lucedale, Mississippi

  • Annual visitors: Unknown

  • Description: This sprawling garden includes replicas of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nazareth, and other biblical sites, as well as miniatures of the Red Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Have you ever wanted to feel like an ancient Israelite version of Godzilla?

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