In ancient times, around the 5 fifth century, a megalith was erected on top of Mt. Matsuō, under which the shrine is built. Two centuries later in 701 the emperor ordered the construction of the shrine. Then, in 965, the emperor put Matsunō-taisha in the list of the top 16 shrines who were receiving regular messages from the Emperor (and therefore from God Himself).
With such a national importance, the shrine grew in importance, something that can still be seen today. However, most buildings are much more recent. For instance, the Kyokusui garden (曲水の庭), as well as the Horai (蓬莱の庭) and other gardens of the shrine have been only built in 1975. More concrete and cement have clearly been used, which makes their mood more... artificial. Still, the shrine is a nice place to stop if you're in the area. For example, it has a very long building whose sole purpose is to display the stacks of sake barrels offered to the shrine. Recommended for: Access: free Nearby: Suzumushi-dera 鈴虫寺 (720m), Kaguyahime Takegoten かぐや姫御殿 (850m), Saihō-ji / Koke-dera 西芳寺・苔寺 (860m), Umenomiya Taisha 梅宮大社 (990m), Jizō-in 地蔵院 (1km) External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Wikipédia, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Marutake, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Nishikyo, 松尾大社, shrine, Matsuo, Matsunō-taisha, 神社, jinja, taisha, 大社 Statistics: visited on 4 occasions, id 335, 15 photos (17 extra photos can be found in the archive). |
