Editorial policy

Christian Routes publishes travel logistics, safety advisories, liturgical dates and claims about contested religious sites. Readers plan real journeys around them. This page states how that information is produced, where its limits are, and how to get it corrected.

How we research

Every destination guide is built from the primary sources first: the site's own administration where one exists, the relevant church or monastery, and the national museum or antiquities authority that sets opening hours and fees. Where a claim is historical rather than practical, we prefer the scholarly consensus and say so when there is not one.

We distinguish between what a tradition venerates and what is historically established, because conflating the two is the most common failure in pilgrimage writing. The House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus is described as venerated as the site of Mary's last years — the Catholic Church has never pronounced on its authenticity, and we do not pronounce for it.

Sources and their shelf life

Prices, opening hours and entry requirements decay fastest. Turkish entrance fees move with the lira, so figures are marked approximate and point at muze.gov.tr for verification. Visa rules are stated with the issuing system named (e-visa, ETIAS, ETA-IL) so a reader can check the source rather than trust our summary.

Security and access advisories are the ones we most want readers to double-check: North Sinai, the Holy Land, and any site whose status has changed recently. We name the situation and date it; we do not tell anyone a border or a checkpoint is safe.

Corrections

We correct factual errors promptly and without negotiation. If a price, an opening time, a feast date or a historical claim is wrong, tell us through the contact page and it will be fixed.

Reports from pilgrims who visited recently outrank anything we can verify from a desk — on-the-ground conditions change faster than any editorial process tracks. When a correction changes the substance of a guide, the page's modification date is updated so readers and search engines can see it moved.

Feedback and disputes

Denominational disagreement is expected on a site covering Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Anglican and Protestant traditions together. Where practice or claim differs between traditions we try to describe each accurately rather than adjudicate. If you think we have misrepresented your tradition's position, write to us and say specifically where.

Ownership and funding

Christian Routes is independent. It is not owned by, funded by or affiliated with any church, tour operator or travel agency. We do not sell tours, tickets or accommodation, and we take no commission from tour operators.

Income, to the extent it exists, comes from clearly-marked affiliate arrangements and editorial partnerships. There is currently one such relationship: Alkan Apart Demre, which appears as a labelled “Partner accommodation” block on the Demre and Patara pages and nowhere else. It is marked as a partnership wherever it appears, it did not buy its way into the editorial text, and no other page recommendation is paid.

We do not run interstitial pop-ups, autoplay video or intrusive advertising, and editorial decisions are made independently of any commercial relationship.

How AI is and is not used

AI tooling is used for drafting assistance, structural editing and technical work on the site. It is not used to generate factual claims that are then published unchecked. Prices, dates, advisories and historical statements are verified against sources by a person before publication, and the editorial caveats throughout the site — the Sinai court ruling, the Mount Athos permit quotas, the dual Easter dates, the Antakya earthquake advisory — are deliberate judgements, not model output.

Review cadence

Practical details (fees, hours, transport, visa rules) are reviewed at least annually and after any known change. Liturgical calendars are rebuilt each year. Security advisories are revisited whenever the underlying situation moves. Each page carries its own modification date; a page that has not been touched in a year is telling you so honestly rather than pretending to be fresh.

Questions about any of this, or a correction to file: contact us. Background on the project is on the about page.