Sacred Mountains

Sacred mountains are mountains sacred to certain religion. Almost all religions have some sacred mountains.

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Ancient Tea Plantations of Pu'er "Each village is guarded by a sacred mountain" (AB ev)
Bahá’i Holy Places Mount Carmel (North Slope included)
Blue and John Crow Mountains "The mountains in themselves are held sacred by the Maroons, firstly because they are the burial ground of their ancestors and, according to West African belief, their spirits live close to these sites" (AB ev)
Bom Jesus do Monte .. illustrates a European tradition of creating Sacri Monti (sacred mounts) (AB ev)
Central Highlands Adam's Peak
Dengfeng Mount Song
Fujisan
Garajonay Sacred to the Guanche. At Alto Garajonay there are the remains of a Guanche sanctuary
Gebel Barkal Jebel Barkal means 'holy mountain' in Arabic, it was believed to be the home of the god Amun (Sudan Bradt Guide)
Great Burkhan Khaldun Mountain
Gyeongju "Mount Namsan, which had been venerated by the existing cults of Korea, became a Buddhist sacred mountain and attracted its adherents, who employed the most outstanding architects and craftsmen of the day to create temples, shrines, and monasteries." - AB Document
Hiraizumi Mount Kinkeisan
Itsukushima Shrine Mount Misen
Jeju "Shamanism and the traditional belief system played an important role in the daily life of Jeju people and show a strong relationship with the natural environment. Cultural resources in Mt. Hallasan include altars and shrines such as Sancheondan, providing traces of religious activities native to Jeju Island. Mt. Hallasan is also known for folk tales, such as Hojongdan and Gwangyangdang, showing that Mt. Hallasan served as a spiritual pillar for Jeju residents." - Nomination File
Khangchendzonga National Park sacred geography of the nominated property include: lakes, caves, sacred rocks, and sacred peaks (AB ev)
Kii Mountain Range Koyasan for Japanese Buddhism and Shinto
Kinabalu Park Mount Kinabalu, sacred to the Dusun
Lake Baikal Shaman Rock at Olkhon is the holiest place for the Buryats, Yakuts and Altais.
Laponian Area Áhkká in the southwestern corner of Stora Sjöfallet National Park: in the Sámi tradition it is a holy mountain (wiki)
Los Glaciares "The name Chaltén is of indigenous origin; the highest peak of the area Chaltén continues to be considered a sacred mountain in indigenous cosmovision." (IUCN Outlook 2020)
Machu Picchu Huayna Picchu
Mont-Saint-Michel Described as such by Unesco
Mount Athos the sacred mountain of Athos became the principal spiritual home of the Orthodox Church in 1054 (OUV)
Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha One of the Buddhist Four Sacred Mountains in China
Mount Kenya It has been regarded as a sacred mountain by neighbouring Kikuyu and Meru people.
Mount Sanqingshan Considered a Taoism Sacred Mountain (AB ev)
Mount Taishan One of the Taoist Five Great Mountains
Mount Wutai One of the Buddhist Four Sacred Mountains in China
Nikko
Oaxaca and Monte Alban Monte Alban: "the terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds of Monte Albán were literally carved out of the mountain and are the symbols of a sacred topography." (OUV)
Old City of Jerusalem Temple Mount
Pannonhalma Sacred Mount of Pannonia
Petroglyphs of the Mongolian Altai Shiviit Khairkhan - "The mountain is still considered sacred by local people." (AB ev)
Querétaro Sangremal and which was called Ynlotepeque and considered sacred in pre-Hispanic times.
Risco Caido Offical name of the site is: Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape
Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Christian
Saint Catherine Area "centred on the holy mountain of Mount Sinaï (Jebel Musa, Mount Horeb)" (OUV)
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple "Mount T'oham, the first to greet the sunrise in the capital of Shilla, was one of Shilla's five major mountains, even before Buddhism was introduced, and was revered as the spiritual mountain of the Shilla people." - AB document
Si Thep "Khao Thamorrat Cave ancient monument is a monastery with Dvaravati sculptures (382.319 ha), located within a sacred mountain" (AB ev)
Sintra The sacred Mountains of Varro and Columela (AB ev)
Sulaiman-Too
Taputapuātea Tea’etapu and ‘Ōrofātiu
Teide National Park In the Guanche cosmography Teide represented the ultimate Sacred Mountain and was also a symbolic reference for the aborigines that lived on the other islands (nom file)
Tongariro National Park Mounts Ruapehu, Ngaruhoe and Tongariro are sacred to the Maori
Tsodilo
Uluru
Vat Phou Phou Kao mountain
Virgin Komi Forests Yalping Nyer is sacred to the Mansi
Volcanoes of Kamchatka Klyuchevskaya Sopka: "considered sacred by some indigenous peoples, being viewed by them as the location at which the world was created" (wiki without a citation)
Wudang Mountains Taoist
Yakushima Traditionally, the Island Mountains have been considered to have a spiritual value (Unesco website)

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