On July 5th, 2015, the 39th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee approved an extension to the Camino de Santiago as an officially recognized World Heritage site. The routes to Santiago de Compostela were originally inscribed as a collective World Heritage site in 1993 (the old town of Santiago de Compostela itself made the list in 1985). The 2015 extension adds two routes—the Camino del Norte and the Camino Primitivo—under UNESCO’s recognition, adding some of Santiago’s earliest pilgrimage paths to the list. Other new additions adopted during this session included sites in Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Uruguay.

What does official World Heritage status get you, one might ask? In addition to increased international awareness, a spot on UNESCO’s list affords access to conservation training, resources, and management plans for preserving a site’s cultural and natural heritage. You can read more about the UNESCO World Heritage mission here.