Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Three sacred precincts hide in the cedar forests of the Kii Peninsula — Yoshino and Omine, the Kumano Sanzan shrines, and the monastic city of Koyasan — stitched together by pilgrim trails walked for some 1,200 years, among them the celebrated Kumano Kodo. Here Shinto's ancient nature worship fused with imported Buddhism into mountain faiths still practised daily. UNESCO inscribed the sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in 2004, one of the few World Heritage listings to honour walking itself.