KINKAKU-JI

Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) was built over a “Mirror Pond” in 1397 as a private villa by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After his death, according to his will, the private residence became a Zen temple called “Rokuon-ji”. The garden was designed as a “Paradise garden”, coordinated around a pond. The lay-out of the garden was influenced by Saiho-ji and Tenryu-ji gardens, both of them designed by Muso Soseki, who was venerated even long time after his death as a grand Zen master and an excellent garden designer. The pond contains several islands, most of them turtle and crane islands with an important stone work. They were designed to be observed from the Golden Pavilion. The temple suffered during the civil war (Onin War 1467-1477), but the Golden Pavilion and the garden have survived. The Golden Pavilion was destroyed by a fire in 1950 and reconstructed in 1955. In 1994 Kinkaku-ji was designated World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.