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Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain

A network of four Christian pilgrimage routes in northern Spain, the site is an extension of the Route of Santiago de Compostela, a serial site inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993. The extension represents a network of almost 1,500 km: coastal, interior of the Basque Country–La Rioja, Liébana and primitive routes. It includes a built heritage of historical importance created to meet the needs of pilgrims, including cathedrals, churches, hospitals, hostels and even bridges. The extension encompasses some of the earliest pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, following the discovery in the 9thcentury of a tomb believed to be that of St. James the Greater.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/669

The Route of Santiago de Compostela comprises over 1800 historic buildings on the Christian pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The Route starts from the French-Spanish border, at either Roncesvalles or Canfranc.

Legend has that the remains of the apostle Saint James the Great are buried in the Santiago cathedral. His tomb was discovered in the 9th century. Pilgrims from all over southern Europe started flocking there in the 10th century. The pilgrimage became so popular in the 12th that it even got its own guidebook, Book V of the Calixtine Codex. 

The buildings on the Route consist of cathedrals, churches, monasteries, hospitals, inns and public works in 166 towns and villages.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/routeofsantiagodecompostela.html