Heian Shrine

The largest torii gate in all of Japan greets visitors to the Heian Shrine.  It was pretty impressive.

The main gate to the shrine is tall and very wide.  The kids and I are standing under it, and we are tiny.

It's easier to see us in this picture. 

Upon walking through the main gate, we came to a very large courtyard.  White gravel covered the entire area, and it made for a beautiful contrast to the vibrant colors of the temple.  There is an orange tree (protected from frostbite in the tan building) and a cherry tree flanking the main Haiden, just like what we saw at the Imperial Palace.

In comparison to other historical stops in and around Kyoto, the Heian Shrine is practically brand new. Its story, however, goes back a long way. Emperor Kammu took the throne as the 50th Emperor of Japan in the year 781, and decided to move the capital of Japan from Nara to today's Kyoto, or what was then known as Heian-kyo.  The Heian Imperial Palace was then constructed. However, the Heian Palace burned down in 1227 and was never rebuilt. 

The year 1895 marked the 1100th anniversary of the establishment of Heian-kyo/Kyoto as the Japanese capital.  In commemoration, it was decided to build a replica of the old Heian Palace. Unfortunately, there was not enough land available to build the replica, so it was built to 5/8 of the original size.  The place was huge as it was....it's hard to imagine what visiting the original would have been like. 

The Heian Shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Kammu and Emperor Komei who were the first and last emperors respectively to rule Japan from Kyoto.  Audra Mae has the ritual of what to do in a shrine and Buddhist temple down pat.  She loves to throw her coin in the box, and then she knows to bow twice, clap twice, and bow again before leaving.

 The shrine was beautiful, very different from any other shrine we have visited so far because of its architecture.  This is the left side of the shrine.

And this was the right side.  I bet it is absolutely breathtaking during cherry blossom season.

Back on the bikes we went to the north of Kyoto, following our favorite bike path along the river to avoid throngs of pedestrians on the sidewalks.

 

Every so often, we would see these stone paths set out in the river so one could cross if they needed/wanted to.  After passing several, we noticed that some of the stones were shaped like turtles!  We loved it!