Best Body Relic

The Relics of St. Peter comprise skeletal remains unearthed during excavations within the Vatican Necropolis beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. These bones were tentatively identified as those of Saint Peter, an apostle and key figure in early Christianity. The discovery provides a tangible link to one o...

The Buddha’s Hair Relic is a collection of eight hair strands believed to be from Siddhartha Gautama Buddha himself. Held within the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar, it represents one of Buddhism's most revered objects. Pilgrims traveling to the site seek spiritual connection and blessings assoc...

The body of Saint Francis of Assisi remains a significant religious relic. Following his death in 1226, his earthly remains were interred within the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, Italy. This preserved fragment represents the physical legacy of the founder of the Franciscan order and is venera...

The Body of Pope John Paul II is a preserved human remains representing the late pontiff’s earthly existence. It is notable as the final resting place of one of the most widely revered figures in modern Christianity and a significant Catholic relic. The body rests within St. Peter's Basilica, attrac...

The Body of St. Mark the Evangelist is a significant Christian relic housed within the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. Recovered and brought to Venice in 828 AD from Alexandria, it represents one of the earliest documented body relics of an apostle. This remains are venerated by Roman Catholics and...

Albert Einstein's brain was removed during his 1955 autopsy by pathologist Thomas Harvey and has since been studied by researchers and partially distributed to institutions.

Bones venerated as those of the biblical Magi are kept in the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral, Germany, transferred from Milan in 1164.

A finger bone relic of Gautama Buddha housed at Famensi Temple in Shaanxi, China, rediscovered in 1987 after being sealed in an underground crypt for over a millennium.

14th-century Russian monk who founded Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (c. 1337), patron of Russia, canonized 1452; his relics are enshrined at the monastery in Sergiyev Posad.

4th–5th century Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church, his remains are enshrined in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, Italy.

French Carmelite nun (1873–1897) and Doctor of the Church known for her Little Way of spiritual childhood, her relics are enshrined in the Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse in Lisieux, France.

The tongue of Anthony of Padua, found incorrupt when his tomb was opened in 1263, is preserved in a reliquary at the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua, Italy.

Spanish Carmelite mystic (1515–1582), first woman declared Doctor of the Church (1970) by Paul VI, who died and is enshrined at Alba de Tormes, Spain.

The middle finger of astronomer Galileo Galilei, removed from his corpse in 1737, now displayed at the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy, as a relic of science.

Strands of hair attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (570–632), among the most venerated objects in the Sacred Trusts collection assembled by Ottoman sultans at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.

The principal remains of Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican Doctor of the Church who died in 1274, are enshrined at the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, France.

Bones attributed to the 4th-century bishop Nicholas of Myra are divided principally between the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy, and a Venetian basilica.

The mummified right hand of St. Stephen, Hungary's first Christian king (r. 1000–1038), housed in St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest and regarded as Hungary's most important national religious relic.

Tooth said to have been lost by Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud in 625, one of the Sacred Trusts brought to Istanbul by the Ottomans and preserved at Topkapi Palace Museum.

11th-century Bishop of Kraków and patron saint of Poland, martyred in 1079 and canonized in 1253; his relics are enshrined in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków.

4th century Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church, his body rests beneath the altar of the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan alongside martyrs Gervase and Protase.

The body of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus who died in 1556, is enshrined beneath the altar of the Church of Il Gesù in Rome, Italy.

A skull venerated as that of the apostle Paul is displayed alongside a skull attributed to St. Peter at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Italy.

The head of Catherine of Siena, the 14th-century Dominican tertiary and Doctor of the Church, is preserved in the Basilica of San Domenico in Siena, Italy.

Strands of hair attributed to the Prophet Muhammad's beard, kept in a gold reliquary within the Sacred Relics Chamber of Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.

Russian Orthodox hermit and spiritual elder (1754–1833) canonized in 1903 whose relics were rediscovered in 1991 and enshrined at Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent, Russia.

Early Christian martyr (d. c. 306) and patron saint of Thessaloniki, whose relics are enshrined in the Basilica of Saint Demetrius, one of Greece's oldest surviving churches.

Anglo-Saxon king of England (1042–1066) canonized in 1161 and enshrined at Westminster Abbey, the church he founded, establishing it as England's primary royal mausoleum.

Archbishop of San Salvador martyred in 1980 and canonized in 2018, whose body is enshrined in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, El Salvador.