Atlas of the Bahá’í World Centre
The Bahá’í World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Bahá’í Faith, located in the western part of the region of Galilee, in northern Israel. The World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Akká (Acre), the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, and various other buildings in the area. These include the administrative buildings established on the Arc adjacent to the Shrine of the Báb, among which is the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í Faith. The Bahá’í World Centre is also the current destination for Bahá’í pilgrimage.
The Bahá’í World Centre has its historical origins in the area that was once Ottoman Syria. This dates back to the 1850s and 1860s when the Shah of Iran and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, ‘Abdu’l-‘Aziz, successively exiled Bahá'u'lláh from Iran to the fortress of Acre for lifetime incarceration.
Many of the locations at the Bahá’í World Centre, including the terraces and the Shrine of the Báb which constitute the north slope of Mount Carmel, were inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008.History[edit]
Exiles of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]

The location of the Bahá'í World Centre was a result of a successive number of banishments and imprisonments of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh was banished from Persia by Nasser-al-Din Shah in 1854, at which time Bahá'u'lláh went to Baghdad in the Ottoman Empire. Later he was exiled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, at the behest of the Persian Shah, to territories further away from Iran and finally to Acre in Ottoman Syria in 1868. Bahá'u'lláh lived out the rest of his life in the area and he communicated with his followers throughout the Middle-East, Central Asia and India through special couriers, and Acre became the centre of the expanding network of Bahá'í groups. When Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment was eased, the area also became a centre of pilgrimage as Bahá'ís would travel the long distance to see Bahá'u'lláh.
Sites by area[edit]
The Bahá'í World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre, Israel, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and various other buildings in the area including the Arc buildings. The Bahá'í World Centre is also the current destination for Bahá'í pilgrimage.
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Major Bahá'í holy places in the Holy Land.
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Bahá'í holy places in the Old City of ’Akká.
Haifa[edit]
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‘Akká[edit]
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Nahariyya[edit]
Nahariyya, the northernmost coastal city in Israel, is the site of several properties used by Bahá'u'lláh during his exile. Perhaps the most well-known of these is Mazra'ih, a garden home with surrounding orchards located in a small town outside of Nahariyya.
Notes and references[edit]
General remarks
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