Kumano Kodo, stretching across the mountainous Kii Peninsula, is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes to the three sacred sites, Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha and Kumano Hayatama Taisha, which are collectively known as Kumano Sanzan, or the “Three Grand Shrines of Kumano.” The routes were developed as a network between the sacred areas in the southern Kansai region, which were registered in 2004 as a UNESCO World Heritage site as part of “the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.”
(熊野古道は、紀伊半島の山間部に延びる熊野三山として知られる熊野本宮大社・熊野那智大社・熊野速玉大社への一連の古い参詣道の総称である。関西地方南部の聖地を結ぶ街道として発展し、2004年に「紀伊山地の霊場と参詣道」の一部としてユネスコの世界遺産に登録された)