The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has just added 21 new sites to its list of World Heritage sites. Two of these sites are in Mexico: the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and the Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca.
The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the "Royal Inland Road") stretches along 1600 miles encompassing 55 sites, as well as five existing World Heritage sites. This road, which was used to transport silver extracted from the mines of Zacatecas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, was actively used as a trade route for over 300 years, from the mid-16th to the 19th Century.
The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca consists of two pre-Hispanic archaeological complexes and a series of pre-historic caves and rock shelters which offer evidence of the domestication of plants in Mesoamerica.
The addition of these two sites raises the total of World Heritage sites in Mexico to 31. See the complete list: UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico
Congratulations, Mexico!