UNESCO · Cultural · 1994
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
古都京都の文化財（京都市、宇治市、大津市）こときょうとのぶんかざい（きょうとし、うじし、おおつし）Koto Kyōto no Bunkazai (Kyōto-shi, Uji-shi, Ōtsu-shi)A thousand years of architecture and gardens in the imperial capital
The Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto are 17 component sites — 13 Buddhist temples, three Shinto shrines and Nijo Castle — in the cities of Kyoto, Uji and Otsu that together trace the architecture and garden art of Japan's imperial capital from the 8th to the 19th century. They were inscribed in 1994.
Overview
Kyoto was founded in 794 as Heian-kyo, a grid-planned capital modelled on Chinese cities, and remained the seat of the emperor until 1869. Over those eleven centuries it became the centre where Japanese religious architecture, palace building and garden design were developed and from which they spread across the country. The World Heritage property does not cover the city as a whole but 17 separate sites, chosen to represent every major period from the Heian to the Edo era.
The components range from the oldest institutions of the capital — the Kamo shrines, older than Heian-kyo itself, and To-ji, one of the two official temples at the city's southern gate — to Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, headquarters of Tendai Buddhism. Aristocratic Pure Land devotion is represented by the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in in Uji; the Zen culture of the warrior elite by Tenryu-ji, Saiho-ji, Ryoan-ji, Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji; the power of the Tokugawa shoguns by Nijo Castle.
Most of the city's wooden buildings were lost in the Onin War of 1467–1477 and later fires, so many of today's halls are rebuilding campaigns of the 16th and 17th centuries on much older foundations. A handful — the pagoda of Daigo-ji (951), the Phoenix Hall (1053) and the main sanctuary of Ujigami Shrine — survive from the Heian period.
Why it is World Heritage
UNESCO recognised the ensemble under two criteria. As the principal centre of Japanese culture for more than a thousand years, Kyoto shaped religious and secular architecture and the art of the garden throughout Japan, and its Zen and Pure Land gardens influenced landscape design worldwide (criterion ii).
The 17 components together form an unusually complete sequence of Japanese architecture and garden design, with outstanding examples of each type — shrine sanctuary, temple complex, Zen dry landscape, stroll garden, shoin-style palace and castle — from the late 8th to the 19th century (criterion iv).
Component sites
Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines
賀茂別雷神社・賀茂御祖神社Kamo-wakeikazuchi-jinja, Kamo-mioya-jinjaThe ancestral shrines of the Kamo clan, older than the capital, rebuilt in 1863 in the nagare-zukuri style. Their Aoi Matsuri procession takes place on 15 May; Shimogamo includes the ancient Tadasu-no-mori forest.
To-ji
教王護国寺（東寺）Kyōō-gokoku-ji (Tō-ji)Founded in 796 beside the capital's main gate and entrusted to Kukai in 823 as a centre of Shingon Buddhism. Its five-storey pagoda of 1644, about 55 m, is the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan.
Kiyomizu-dera
清水寺Kiyomizu-deraTemple on the slopes of Higashiyama, founded according to tradition in 778. The main hall, rebuilt in 1633, projects over the hillside on a stage supported by a lattice of wooden pillars without nails.
- 延暦寺Enryaku-ji
Founded by Saicho in 788 on Mount Hiei, in Otsu on the Shiga side; the head temple of Tendai and training ground of the founders of Pure Land, Zen and Nichiren schools. Oda Nobunaga burned it in 1571.
- 平等院Byōdō-in
A Fujiwara villa in Uji converted into a temple in 1052. The Phoenix Hall (1053), reflected in its pond, embodies the Pure Land paradise and appears on the 10-yen coin.
Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji)
鹿苑寺（金閣寺）Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji)Retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu from 1397. The gold-leafed Golden Pavilion was destroyed by arson in 1950 and rebuilt in 1955; the pond garden is original.
Ryoan-ji
龍安寺Ryōan-jiZen temple whose dry landscape garden of fifteen stones on raked white gravel, probably created in the late 15th century, is the best-known karesansui (rock garden) in Japan.
Nijo Castle
元離宮二条城Moto-rikyū Nijō-jōKyoto residence of the Tokugawa shoguns from 1603. The Ninomaru Palace, with its painted screens and creaking 'nightingale' floors, is where the return of power to the emperor was announced in 1867.
History
794
Emperor Kanmu moves the capital to Heian-kyo.
788–796
Enryaku-ji is founded on Mount Hiei and To-ji at the southern gate of the new city.
1053
Completion of the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in in Uji.
1397
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu begins his Kitayama villa, later Kinkaku-ji.
1467–1477
The Onin War destroys much of the city.
1603
Tokugawa Ieyasu builds Nijo Castle as his residence in the capital.
1869
The emperor moves to Tokyo; Kyoto ceases to be the capital.
1994
Inscription on the World Heritage List, in the year of the city's 1,200th anniversary.
Visiting
- The components are spread across Kyoto's basin and beyond: Byodo-in and Ujigami Shrine are in Uji, about 20 minutes south by train, and Enryaku-ji is reached by cable car or ropeway, or by road over Mount Hiei.
- Saiho-ji, the moss temple, admits visitors only by advance application; the other components are open to the public, though some halls and gardens are closed to visitors.
- Spring cherry blossom and the autumn leaves of November are the most crowded periods; early mornings are quieter at Kiyomizu-dera and Kinkaku-ji.
- All sites are places of worship or protected monuments: photography rules vary, and shoes are removed in temple halls.
Frequently asked questions
Which sites belong to the Kyoto World Heritage property?
Seventeen: Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines, To-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Enryaku-ji, Daigo-ji, Ninna-ji, Byodo-in, Ujigami Shrine, Kozan-ji, Saiho-ji, Tenryu-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Nishi Hongan-ji and Nijo Castle.
Why are Uji and Otsu part of 'Ancient Kyoto'?
Byodo-in and Ujigami Shrine in Uji were closely tied to the Heian aristocracy, and Enryaku-ji, although on the Shiga side of Mount Hiei in Otsu, was founded to protect the capital from the north-east.
Is the Golden Pavilion original?
No. The pavilion of Kinkaku-ji was burned by a monk in 1950 and rebuilt in 1955; the garden and site are historic, which is why the component remains on the list.
Is the whole city of Kyoto a World Heritage Site?
No. Only the 17 listed sites and their protected areas are inscribed; famous places such as Fushimi Inari Taisha, Sanjusangen-do or the Gion district are not part of the property.
What is the oldest building in the property?
The five-storey pagoda of Daigo-ji, completed in 951, is the oldest surviving building in Kyoto city; the main sanctuary of Ujigami Shrine in Uji is considered the oldest surviving shrine building in Japan.
Related
Sources
- 1.Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- 2.日本の世界遺産一覧 (opens in a new tab) — 文化庁
- 3.京都市情報館 (opens in a new tab) — 京都市