Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The history of Amsterdam as an ancient place of pilgrimage dates to the Middle Ages. In the 13th or 14th centuries, Amsterdam was nothing but a small settlement at the mouth of the river Amstel. It was also called Miracle City, and it owes that name to the Miracle of the Holy Sacrament. On March 13th, 1345, a dying man was given the Sacrament of the Sick in his house on Kalverstraat. He confessed and received Holy Communion. Afterwards he ate and was sick. He vomited and the bowl was emptied in the fire. The sacred host floated above the flames, unscathed. The priest was called, who took the host back to the church, but twice the host returned inexplicably to the house of the sick man. The priest saw the hand of God in this and decided to return the host in a solemn procession. A chapel was built on the site of the miracle. Medieval Amsterdam grew into an important place of pilgrimage. And every year still, on the 3rd Saturday in March, thousands of pilgrims from all over the Holland take part in the procession. Most arrive by bus or train. But in many of the smaller towns surrounding Amsterdam the entire journey is made on foot, some pilgrims walking as many as 40 miles to reach Amsterdam.

Austria: Journeys through the Salt Mines
From the thirteenth century onward the name of the city of Salzburg is synonomus with wealth, opulence and magnificence. If at first prosperity is derived from mining salt and the turquoise water of its many lakes, it also comes from the romantic spirit floating in the air of Mozart’s birth place. Austria also boasts it is the kingdom pastryand a gastronomy whose variety is equal only to its alpine views.
 

Canada: Journeys through the Rockies
On the eve of the New Year, 1871, British Columbia put on her wedding dress and prepared to unite her destiny to that of the young country, Canada. The Prime Minister, the conservative, Sir John A. MacDonald, obtained his bride-to-be’s consent by promising to build a railroad that will cross the country from East to West. The die is cast, the iron horse must cross the Rockies. This monumental task will unfurl in a mountain wilderness, and will be the starting point of tourism for Canadian Pacific.
 

Pilgrimages of Europe:  Complete Set of Six DVDs
Pilgrimages are as old as mankind. The mystical and spiritual nature of a pilgrimage holds an eternal, mythic appeal to the imagination of many people. Every year millions of pilgrims of all nationalities, young and old, set out on these voyages of the soul. The twelve documentaries in the Pilgrimages of Europe collection are experiential journeys to some of the most sacred routes and holy places throughout Christian Europe.

Pilgrimages of Europe: Volume VI: Medjugorje, Bosnia & Kevelaer, Germany
Hendrik Busman, a merchant, knelt in prayer one day beside the wayside shrine just outside of Kevelaer. Suddenly he heard a mysterious voice asking him to build a little chapel on the spot. This occurrence was repeated twice. In the same year Hendrik’s wife Mechel was offered to buy a picture of Our Lady of Luxembourg. Shortly afterwards, Mechel had a vision during the night: in a clear light, she saw a little chapel with the very same picture inside. When Hendrik Busman learned of this, he hesitated no longer. The little chapel was built in May 1642 and the image of mercy placed inside. The first pilgrims came to Kevelaer that same day. An annual tradition, said to date from the year 1733, is the walk from Bocholt to Kevelaer. Men and women of all ages travel the 30 miles in one day. About a thousand people take part in this pilgrimage every year.

Croagh Patrick, Ireland
In the 4th century A.D. the monk Patrick travelled to pagan Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. Patrick won the population over by integrating venerated pagan symbols, like the sun, into the Christian faith. Croagh Patrick, a mountain on Ireland’s wild western coast, is such a symbol. During a dispute with the druids, Patrick was challenged to fast for forty days and forty nights on their holy mountain. “Our gods will destroy you,” they threatened. Patrick accepted their challenge. After forty days and nights on the mountain, he made his descent, none the worse for wear. From then onward, his influence grew by leaps and bounds. To this day Saint Patrick remains the patron saint of Ireland. Every Irishman climbs Croagh Patrick at least once in his life, as his ancestors did even before the dawn of the Christian era.

El Rocio, Spain
The Romeria de El Rocio is the most important pilgrimage to the Blessed Mother on the Iberian Peninsula. El Rocio is in Andalusia in the deep south of Spain. The many pilgrims who flock to the little town every year come to venerate the Holy Virgin of El Rocio, also know as the Virgin of the Dew. In the 15th century a hunter who lived near Almonte, discovered a statuette of Mary hidden in the trunk of a tree. He took it with him but was overcome with fatigue on his way home. When he awoke the statuette had disappeared. The hunter returned to the tree where he found the figurine again. In that place, called Rocina, a little church was built, and thus began the veneration of the Virgin of the Dew. During the week before Pentecost about a million pilgrims, the Rocieros, make their way to El Rocio on foot, on horseback, in oxcarts, on tractors or in cars. The trip often takes many days. During the night after Pentecost Sunday the sacred event will take place. The Virgin of the Dew will emerge from the church to greet her people. No one knows the exact timing. For the people of Andalusia there will always be an El Rocio. The day after Pentecost the Rocieros are already making preparations for the following year. For them El Rocio is more than just a pilgrimage. It is a way of life.

Entertaining Angels Unawares
This new documentary produced for British television is an exploration of the enduring mythic and symbolic presence of angels in human history. These spiritual beings, our link with the Divine, have been an enduring presence in the collective mind of humanity for more than three thousand years.
 

Fatima, Portugal
The history of Fatima can be traced to the beginning of the 20th Century. Three children witnessed the sudden appearance of the Holy Virgin beneath an oak tree. They described her as a “lady of white light.” Mary instructed the children to recite the rosary every day. She appeared to them five times again that summer, her last appearance marked by a miracle, the miraculous “solar phenomenon” of Fatima. Several years after the appearances, two of the three children died. Lucia, ten years old at the time of the appearance, joined the Carmelite order of nuns. Her mission was to proclaim the message she had received from the Holy Virgin to the world. Fatima has become the most important destination for pilgrims in Portugal, attracting over a million and a half travelers yearly. The trek to Fatima is usually done in exchange for a favor received. Pilgrims often make a promesa, a personal vow to do penance as a sign of their gratitude to the Virgin. For many, this means covering the last 500 yards on the marble floor to the Chapel of the Apparitions on their knees.

Images of Jesus
While Jesus lived, no one made a record of His face. In His time, no one made a picture, nor a sketch, nor a painting. Since then every image of Jesus came from the minds and hands of those who lived after He died. Thus begins this fascinating film, produced by award-winning filmmaker Perry Wolff, which traces the evolving look of Christ from the first figurations from 320 AD of Jesus as an astonished shepherd boy, to the present day. This is the definitive art history of Jesus Christ. Wolff documents the wooden icons of the Eastern church. The stained glass windows of the great cathedrals. The fresco paintings of the poorer churches. Woodcuts on paper. Silk paintings from the east. Giotto's Lamentation... Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper... The Pieta... The Sistine Chapel... Michelangelo's The Last Judgment... El Greco's Allegory of the Holy League... The dead Christ by Paul Manet... Paul Gauguin's green Christ and yellow Christ... Marc Chagall's stained glass crucifixion... Pablo Picasso's crucifixion... Salvador Dali's Last Supper... Rembrandt's infant Jesus... De la Tour's sleeping savior... Tiepolo's three wise men who came to adore Christ... Jerome Bosch. Mantegna. Albert Durer. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Mantegna. Velazquez. Zubaran. William Holman Hunt. Titian. El Greco.

In the Footsteps of Peter: The Museums and the Buildings of Vatican City
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PETER is the culmination of three years of research and filming, the collaboration of thirty-two scholars and historians from around the world, a crew of forty directors of photography, operators, and lighting technicians, state-of-the-art digital cinematography, lighting, animation, and computerized editing, and the work of a famous composer with original performances by master musicians.

Japan: Journeys on the Tokaïdo
The country of the rising sun, the Tokaïdo or, literally "the road from the sea to the east," is the spine for the roadways around which modern Japan was created to put an end to the absolute power of the shoguns and the samurais. Today rites and traditions in Japan are rife with symbolism where every detail has significance, and where the tea ceremony, calligraphy and gastronomy are evidence of a lifestyle whose refinement has been pushed to its zenith.

Niagara Falls: Raging Rapids
Now, in an inspiring HDTV film, we probe the secrets of Niagara Falls. From helicopter and speedboat, at high-tech labs and at rope's end, we join earth scientists as they struggle to piece together the epic life story of North America's most celebrated natural wonder. We experience the Falls that daredevils and stunters could never tame -- the Niagara that is a vertical battleground between water and rock.

Peru: Journeys to the Golden Cities
Peru… Legendary country of the fabulous Cities of Gold that attracted adventurers and the Spanish conquistadors. Even violated and stripped of its treasures, Peru, with its larger than life landscapes, its dizzying peaks and the vestiges of mysterious cities, remains a fascinating land, still inhabited by the spirit of the Incas and their amazing rites.

South Africa: Journeys of the Freedom Songs
On the 6th of November, 1964, political activist and composer of many South African freedom songs, Vuyisilli Mini was condemned to death. Leaving his cell his jailer sarcastically asked him if he was going to sing on his way to the gallows. On his way to the hangman’s rope, Vuyisili Mini and two others who will be hung with him, as well as all the prisoners of Pretoria intoned one of the songs written by Mini, "Watch Out Verwoerd!" ("The Black Man is coming!") South Africa, known for its brutal past, possesses a hidden treasure richer than its underground gold and diamonds, a more powerful arm than its tanks and AK-47: song and music. You can kill a man, but his song lives on.

Spain: Journeys Through the Land of the Builders
A symbol of modern Europe, Barcelona is a city renowned for its exceptional architecture, where Gothic and Art Nouveau styles are married in rare harmony. A unique pearl set in a precious jewel case, Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, where street festivals are spontaneous happenings, revealing their secular, folkloric traditions. From the Middle Ages Catalans have been a strong, proud people, loving freedom above all things.
 

The Greatest Journeys on Earth
This collection of thirteen one-hour documentaries suggests unusual itineraries through some of the most beautiful places on earth. Each journey takes the viewer beyond the usual commonplace clichés of travel destinations. Instead, through geography, history, architecture, culture, celebrations, leisure activities and gastronomy, viewers are able to appreciate the art of living in each destination. With interviews, visits, lavish meals and celebrations, viewers become aware of the richly-textured history of these great destinations.

The Island: Ireland from the Air
This is a magical journey through the mythic and historical landscape of Ireland, filmed entirely from the air. Flying above the land and across the centuries, we see how Water, Earth and Stone have shaped the history and formed the character of THE ISLAND. Many of these dramatic locations have never been seen before on television or video. Here are tombs more ancient than the pyramids, startling medieval castles and mysterious 5,000 year-old stone circles. We soar like an eagle over majestic sea-cliffs, into deep valleys and alongside remote mountains. And we learn how, over time, the natural landscape has been transformed with the growth of modern Irish towns and cities.

Then They Came For Me: Intolerance In Modern Germany
Seventy years after Hitler came to power has Germany learned to be a more tolerant nation that cares for the human rights and dignities of all people? A startling number of politicians, religious leaders and intellectuals fear the shocking answer may well be "no," and many predict that the days of the Fourth Reich are not a nightmare but a very real vision of the future. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, a groundswell of intolerance grew out of the rubble of the Berlin Wall. The euphoric reunion of East and West, which was seen as heralding a brighter Europe, has led to dark storm clouds of discontent gathering over Germany.