Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the Kii Peninsula in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Selection criteria

The locations and paths for this heritage site were based on their historical and modern importance in religious pilgrimages. It was also noted for its fusion of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, and a well documented history of traditions over 1,200 years. The nature scenery on the Kii peninsula was also taken into consideration, with its many

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s, rivers and waterfalls. Technically, independent structures at nominated

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and

shrines A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

were nominated for this distinction, and not the entire establishments. Sections of the trails were included for this nomination, but not the full length of their expanses. A total of 242 elements were selected from sites and pilgrimage routes for nomination.

List of sites

References

* ICOMOS (2004)
Advisory Body Evaluation.
Retrieved on 2009-07-27. * Agency for Cultural Affairs (2003)
''Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, and the Cultural Landscapes that Surround Them''
Retrieved on 2014-05-04. * Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in The Kii Mountain Range - UNESCO website (2004

Retrieved on 2018-11-4. Religious places Shinto World Heritage Sites in Japan Tourist attractions in Nara Prefecture Tourist attractions in Mie Prefecture Tourist attractions in Wakayama Prefecture Japanese pilgrimages Kumano faith {{wakayama-geo-stub

Selection criteria

List of sites

See also

References