The Holy Land (9)
I believe the answer is:
palestine
'the holy land' is the definition.
(synonyms)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for palestine that I've seen before include "territory under dispute" , "Penalties on region once known as Canaan" , "in the Middle East" , "The historic Holy Land in neat piles" , "Region deriving its name from the Philistines" .)