Kyoto Attractions

Nijo Castle is a flatland castle located in Kyoto. The castle consists of two concentric rings of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is 275,000 square metres, of which 8000 square metres is occupied by buildings.

Sanjusangen-do is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama District of Kyoto, Japan. Officially known as "Rengeō-in", or Hall of the Lotus King, Sanjūsangen-dō belongs to and is run by the Myoho-in temple, a part of the Tendai school of Buddhism. The temple name literally means Hall with thirty three spaces between columns, describing the architecture of the long main hall of the temple. From the Edo period, archery exhibition contests called Tōshiya are held on the W veranda of this temple. The main deity of the temple is the Thousand Armed Kannon. The temple also contains one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand on both the right and left sides of the main statue in 10 rows and 50 columns. Of these, 124 statues are from the original temple, while the remaining 876 statues were constructed in the 13th century. The statues a...

Kiyomizu Temple (or Kiyomizu-dera) officially Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera is an independent Buddhist temple in E Kyoto. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) UNESCO World Heritage site. Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period and dates back to 798. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. The name Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water. The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims. Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can drink from the waters, which is believed to have therap...