Jerusalem
Israel/Palestine
Sacred to three faiths. Fought over in the Crusades, conquered and reconquered across millennia. One of the most symbolically significant cities in human history.
Associated figures
Hadrian
The most traveled emperor in Roman history, Hadrian consolidated the empire's frontiers - most famously with his wall across northern Britain - and was a passionate builder, patron of Greek culture, and restless intellectual whose architectural vision produced the Pantheon and his extraordinary villa at Tivoli.
Constantine the Great
The emperor who transformed Christianity from a persecuted sect into the favored religion of the Roman Empire. He reunified the empire, founded Constantinople as a new eastern capital, and convened the Council of Nicaea - decisions that shaped the course of Western and Eastern civilization for the next millennium and beyond.
Frederick Barbarossa
Holy Roman Emperor who spent his reign fighting to assert imperial authority over the wealthy cities of northern Italy and the papacy. He led six campaigns into Italy, convened the great Diet of Roncaglia, and died on the Third Crusade, becoming one of the most legendary medieval rulers in German memory.
Richard the Lionheart
King of England famed as one of the greatest warrior-kings of the Middle Ages. He led the Third Crusade, won major victories against Saladin, and spent barely six months of his ten-year reign in England. His legend as the chivalric ideal endured for centuries.
Francis of Assisi
Son of a wealthy cloth merchant who renounced worldly goods to live in radical poverty, founding the Franciscan order. He became one of the most beloved saints in Christian history, known for his devotion to the poor, his love of nature, and his remarkable journey to meet Sultan al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade.
Marco Polo
Venetian merchant and explorer whose account of his travels through Asia, including seventeen years at the court of Kublai Khan, introduced Europeans to the civilizations of the East. His book, Il Milione (The Travels of Marco Polo), became one of the most influential travel accounts ever written.