Tenryu-ji and Nara Palace Site

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tenryu-ji

   People come to Arashiyama for the bamboo, and they leave with the memory of a garden. Tenryu-ji, the great Zen temple at the foot of the hills on the west side of Kyoto, was founded in 1339 by the shogun Ashikaga Takauji, who built it to console the spirit of the emperor Go-Daigo, his former rival. The garden, designed by the Zen master Muso Soseki, is older than almost every other thing you will see in the area: a pond with rocks arranged like a mountain landscape, with the hills of Arashiyama pulled into the view as borrowed scenery. It has survived fire after fire, though most of the halls themselves are later rebuilds.

   Read the complete Tenryu-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tenryu-ji is where the day begins. Next is Daigo-ji.

2. 2. Daigo-ji

   The oldest building in Kyoto does not stand in the city centre but in the southeastern hills, at the temple of Daigo-ji: a five storey pagoda completed in 951, which has survived fires, earthquakes and wars that destroyed almost everything else of its age in the city. The temple was founded in the ninth century on Mount Daigo, and its grounds spread from the foot of the mountain to the summit, linked by a steep path, with halls, gardens and sub temples along the way. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Daigo-ji comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nara Palace Site.

3. 3. Nara Palace Site

   For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.

   Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Nara Palace Site. Next is back through Daigo-ji.

4. 4. back through Daigo-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Daigo-ji, late in the day. Next is Tenryu-ji.

5. 5. Tenryu-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tenryu-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Tenryu-ji. That is the ride.