Pilgrimage Routes and Sacred Sites

The Hajj to Mecca, obligatory at least once in a lifetime for every physically and financially able Muslim as the fifth of Islam's Five Pillars, centers on ritual circumambulation of the Kaaba, the cubic structure Islamic tradition holds was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. Before modern air travel, pilgrims converged on Mecca along historic overland caravan routes originating in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad, each protected and provisioned by successive Islamic states as a mark of religious duty. Saudi Arabia's monarch has held the title Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques since 1986, and Saudi Hajj Ministry statistics recorded pilgrim numbers reaching roughly 2.5 million in peak years before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the pilgrimage in 2020 and 2021.