Monastery World Map

About Monastery World Map ⛪

Monastery World Map charts monasteries, convents, abbeys and friaries around the world — living religious communities, pilgrimage sites and the ruined cloisters that shaped whole regions.

Each monastery is drawn from OpenStreetMap's `amenity=monastery` tag and kept current by the mapping community. Many are active places of worship, so respect their rules on visiting hours, dress and silence.

Who is behind this site?

Monastery World Map is built and maintained by Emil Björk, an independent developer based in Sweden. The site grew out of a passion for maps, travel and open data, alongside a professional background in IT consulting.

How it works

Every point is fetched from the OpenStreetMap Overpass API, deduplicated, tagged by country and stored as a static GeoJSON file — no database, instant to load. Click any point to see a description from Wikipedia, a photo from Wikimedia Commons (or Mapillary as a fallback) and, where available, its Google rating.

Data freshness

The dataset is automatically refreshed once a month from OpenStreetMap via a scheduled GitHub Action, so the map stays current as the world is mapped.

Spot something missing?

This map is only as complete as OpenStreetMap itself. If you know a monasteries that isn't here, you can add it directly to OpenStreetMap — it's free, open and will appear here at the next refresh.

Add a missing place on OpenStreetMap →

New to OpenStreetMap? See the how-to-tag guide for monasteries. Edits show up here at the next monthly refresh.

Report an error or a wrong location

Found a monasteries in the wrong spot, with outdated details, or listed twice? The data lives in OpenStreetMap, so the quickest fix is a short note there — a local mapper reviews it and the correction flows back to this map at the next refresh.

Leave a note on OpenStreetMap →

Get in touch

Questions, feedback, or a partnership idea? We'd love to hear from you — reach us at hello@monasteryworldmap.vercel.app.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the most common questions are on our FAQ page →

Credits