Historic Sites and Special Historic Sites in Kyoto City

How Historic Sites differ from places of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monuments

Among archaeological and historical sites of high historical or scholarly value, such as shell mounds, ancient burial mounds (kofun), capital and castle sites, and former residences, the national government designates important ones as "Historic Sites" and especially important ones as "Special Historic Sites." Scenic places such as gardens and gorges are "Places of Scenic Beauty," and animals, plants, and geological features and minerals are "Natural Monuments"; these three are together called "Monuments."

The same place is sometimes designated both a Historic Site and a Place of Scenic Beauty, and in that case each is counted as 1. The 3 Special Historic Sites in Kyoto City are all gardens and are also Special Places of Scenic Beauty, so they are also among the 12 Special Places of Scenic Beauty. The Ryōan-ji Hōjō Garden and the Tenryū-ji Garden are gardens that are Historic Sites and also Special Places of Scenic Beauty.

Counts by ward and type

According to the Kyoto City Cultural Properties Protection Section's count as of April 1, 2026, the city has 58 Historic Sites and Special Historic Sites (including 3 Special Historic Sites), about 3% of the 1,923 nationwide (including 66 Special Historic Sites). The Otokuni Kofun Group, which extends into Mukō City and elsewhere, and the Enryaku-ji Grounds and the Lake Biwa Canal, which extend into Ōtsu City, are each counted as 1.

In Ukyō Ward, the grounds and gardens of Myōshin-ji and its subtemples alone account for 7. Sorted by content, there are 19 temple gardens, 12 temple and shrine grounds, 8 sites of imperial palaces, detached palaces, and the like, 8 temple sites, kofun, and kiln sites, 6 former residences and graves associated with historical figures, and 5 civil-engineering remains and landforms, such as the Odoi, Funaokayama, and the Lake Biwa Canal.

List (1): Kita, Kamigyō, Nakagyō, Shimogyō, and Minami wards and beyond

Kita Ward has the Kinkaku-ji garden, and 5 sites for the grounds and gardens of Daitoku-ji alone. The Heian Palace Site went through designations such as that of the Burakuden site in 1990 and is now combined into a single Historic Site.

List (2): Higashiyama, Sakyō, Yamashina, and Fushimi wards

Sakyō Ward has the Ginkaku-ji garden and former grounds, the Nanzen-ji grounds, and the Enryaku-ji Grounds on Mount Hiei, as well as a cluster of Historic Sites associated with historical figures, such as Shisendō and Iwakura Tomomi's former residence. When the imperial palace burned in the great fire of 1788 (Tenmei 8), Shōren-in in Higashiyama Ward became the temporary residence of Retired Empress Go-Sakuramachi and Shōgo-in that of Emperor Kōkaku, and both are Historic Sites.

List (3): Ukyō and Nishikyō wards

Ukyō Ward centers on the temples of Saga, Omuro, and Hanazono, and in Uzumasa there are the 6th-century Amazuka Kofun and the Hebizuka Kofun, whose stone chamber of huge rocks remains. At the Katagihara Temple Site in Nishikyō Ward, traces of an octagonal pagoda have been confirmed, a type of which very few examples have been found in Japan.

Historic Sites in parks and along streets

Most Historic Sites are the grounds or gardens of temples and shrines, and whether you can visit and the fees differ from one temple or shrine to another.

• Saiji Temple Site (Karahashi Saiji-chō, Minami Ward): The raised earthen platform (Kondo-yama), the first part to be designated, is in today's Karahashi Saiji Park, where a stone monument also stands. About 200 m from the "Saiji-mae" city bus stop.
• Toba Palace Site (Nakajima Gosho-no-uchi-chō, Fushimi Ward): The Toba Detached Palace site is a historic park, where the artificial hill "Aki no Yama" (Autumn Hill) remains. Right by the "Jōnangū-michi" city bus stop.
• Yamashina Hongan-ji Site (Yamashina Ward): In Yamashina Chūō Park, earthen ramparts remain over 75 m east–west and 60 m north–south.
• Takase River Ichinofunairi (Kami-Korikimachi, Kiyamachi-dōri Nijō-sagaru, Nakagyō Ward): The canal cut extending into the west side of the Takase River is the Ichinofunairi.
• Odoi: There are designated areas at Hirano Toriimae-chō in Kita Ward, in the grounds of Rozan-ji in Kamigyō Ward, and elsewhere. The Odoi on the west side of the grounds of Kitano Tenmangū is open to the public as the "Historic Site Odoi Maple Garden"; in autumn 2026 it is open from October 31 to December 6, at 1,500 yen for adults and 700 yen for children (including tea and a sweet).
• Heian Palace Site: The designated areas are in residential neighborhoods, and there is an explanatory board at the site of the inner corridor of the Dairi. The remains of the Burakuden are preserved underground.