Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) encompasses 17 locations in Japan. The locations are in three cities: Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

and Uji

Uji, Kyoto

is a city on the southern outskirts of the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Founded on March 1, 1951, Uji is located between the two ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto. The city sits on the Uji River, which has its source in Lake Biwa. As of April 1, 2008, Uji has an estimated population...

in Kyoto Prefecture

Kyoto Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Kyoto.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto prefecture was known as Yamashiro....

; and Ōtsu

Otsu, Shiga

is the capital city of Shiga, Japan. The city was founded on October 1, 1898. As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 338,629 with an average age of 40.7 years and a population density of 905.28 persons per km²...

in Shiga Prefecture

Shiga Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Ōtsu.- History :Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established...

. Of the monuments, 13 are Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

temples; 3 are Shinto shrines; and one is a castle

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

. The properties include 38 buildings designated by the Japanese Government as National Treasures
National treasures of Japan
National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...

, 160 properties designated as Important Cultural Properties
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
The term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....

, 8 gardens designated as Special Places of Scenic Beauty, and 4 designated as Places of Scenic Beauty. UNESCO listed the site as World Heritage in 1994.

Selection criteria

Kyoto has a substantial number of historic buildings, unlike other Japanese cities that lost buildings to foreign invasions and war; and has the largest concentration of designated Cultural Properties in Japan. Although ravaged by wars, fires, and earthquakes during its eleven centuries as the imperial capital, Kyoto was spared from much of the destruction of World War II. It was saved from the nearly universal firebombing

Firebombing

Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....

of large cities in Japan in part to preserve it as an atomic bomb target, then later removed from atomic bomb target list (which it had headed) by the personal intervention of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson

Henry L. Stimson

Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...

, as Stimson wanted to save this cultural center which he knew from his honeymoon and later diplomatic visits (Nagasaki

Nagasaki

is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...

was then substituted).

The 17 properties of the World Heritage Site originate from a period between the 10th century and the 19th century, and each is representative of the period in which it was built. The historical importance of the Kyoto region was taken into account by the UNESCO in the selection process.

List of locations

Name	Type	Position	Picture
or	shrineShinto shrine	span style="display:none">Kyoto Kyoto Kita-kuKita-ku, Kyoto Kita-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "North Ward." As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 122,391 people.-Universities:Bukkyo UniversityKyoto Sangyo University... , 35°03′37"N 135°45′10"E
or (	shrineShinto shrine	span style="display:none">Kyoto Kyoto Sakyou-kuSakyō-ku, Kyoto Sakyo-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 1929 when it was split off from Kamigyo-ku.It is located in the north-east corner of Kyoto city. In the east it borders the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. In the south Sanjō Street separates it from... , 35°02′20"N 135°46′21"E

}

| Shingon Buddhist temple
|Minami-ku, Kyoto

Minami-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "South Ward." It was established in 1955 when it was separated from Shimogyo-ku. As of April, 2008 the ward has an estimated population of 98,320 people. The Kamo River and the Katsura River flow through...

, 34°58′51.48"N 135°44′48.02"E
|

|-
|
| Independent Buddhist temple
|Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

' is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 1929 when it was split off from Shimogyō-ku. During the years 1931 to 1976 it also covered the area of present-day Yamashina-ku, which was an independent town until its merger into the city in 1931...

, 34°59′41.39"N 135°47′6.01"E
|
|-
|
| Tendai

Tendai

is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...

Buddhist temple
|Ōtsu, Shiga

Otsu, Shiga

, 35°4′13.62"N 135°50′27.33"E
|
|-
|
| Shingon Buddhist temple
|Fushimi-ku, Kyoto

Fushimi-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Famous places in Fushimi include the Fushimi Inari Shrine, with thousands of torii lining the paths up and down a mountain; Fushimi Castle, originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, with its rebuilt towers and gold-lined...

, 34°57′3.57"N 135°49′10.51"E
|
|-
|
| Shingon Buddhist temple
|Ukyō-ku, Kyoto

Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The word , as opposed to , refers to the western half of the ancient capital of Heiankyō – the palace faced south, hence west was to the right...

, 35°1′51.63"N 135°42′49.58"E
|
|-
|
| Buddhist temple jointly held by Jōdo shū

Jodo Shu

, also known as Jōdo Buddhism, is a branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Japanese ex-Tendai monk Hōnen. It was established in 1175 and is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, along with Jōdo Shinshū....

and Tendai

Tendai

is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...

|Uji, Kyoto

Uji, Kyoto

, 34°53′21.45"N 135°48′27.69"E
|
|-
|
| Shinto shrine
|Uji, Kyoto

Uji, Kyoto

, 34°53′31"N 135°48′41"E
|
|-
|
| Shingon Buddhist temple of the Omuro school
|Ukyō-ku, Kyoto

Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

, 35°3′36.39"N 135°40′42.85"E
|
|-
| or
| Rinzai Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

Buddhist temple
|Nishikyō-ku, Kyoto

Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "west capital ward" and it is situated on the western edge of the city, to the south of center. The ward was established on October 1, 1976 separating from Ukyō-ku...

, 34°59′31.06"N 135°40′59.93"E
|

|-
|
| Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple of the Tenryū school
|Ukyō-ku, Kyoto

Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

, 35°0′57.47"N 135°40′25.58"E
|

|-
| or
| Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple
|Kita-ku, Kyoto

Kita-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "North Ward." As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 122,391 people.-Universities:*Bukkyo University*Kyoto Sangyo University...

, 35°2′21.85"N 135°43′45.71"E
|
|-
| or
| Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple
|Sakyō-ku, Kyoto

Sakyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 1929 when it was split off from Kamigyo-ku.It is located in the north-east corner of Kyoto city. In the east it borders the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. In the south Sanjō Street separates it from...

, 35°1′36.75"N 135°47′53.7"E
|
|-
|
| Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple of the Myōshinji school
|Ukyō-ku, Kyoto

Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

, 35°2′4.18"N 135°43′5.71"E
|

|-
|
| Jodo Shinshu

Jodo Shinshu

, also known as Shin Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Today, Shin Buddhism is considered the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.-Shinran :...

Buddhist temple and world headquarters
|Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto

Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. First established in 1879, it has been merged and split, and took on its present boundaries in 1955, with the establishment of a separate Minami-ku....

, 34°59′31.37"N 135°45′5.81"E
|
|-
|
| Castle
| Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto

Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "central capital ward."As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 102,620 people. Tourism, shopping, and entertainment are the primary sources of income in the area. The Kamo River flows through the...

, 35°0′50.96"N 135°44′51.0"E
|
|-
|}

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Selection criteria

List of locations

See also

External links