The ancient city of Kyoto, located in Japan, has seen a lot in its lifetime – wars, sieges, and state coups. He went through eras of prosperity and devastation, and they all left their mark on its streets. But modern Kyoto is a very interesting Japanese metropolis – high-tech, densely populated, extremely comfortable for living and a must-see for tourists who have drifted to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Facts about Kyoto
- The ancestors of modern people lived in the territory where the city is now located, as early as 8-9 thousand years ago.
- Kyoto was built in 794 by order of the Japanese emperor.
- The Japanese builders of the 8th century took the Chinese city of Xi’an, which was then called Chang’an and was the capital of China, as a basis (facts about China). Newly built Kyoto had 21 streets.
- Slightly more people live in this city than in all of Estonia. Kyoto has a population of 1.4 million.
- There are about 40 universities here.
- For 1075 years, Kyoto was the capital of Japan (facts about Japan).
- The city was originally called «Heian», but was later renamed.
- There are about 2,000 ancient temples on the territory of Kyoto, of which about 1,600 are Buddhist and 400 are Shinto.
- Iwatayama Monkey Park, where about 180 rare Japanese macaques live, is popular with tourists.
- In winter, snow usually falls here, and the temperature drops below zero degrees. True, not much.
- Due to the fact that Kyoto is surrounded on all sides by mountains, there are no strong winds here.
- Despite the fact that there are a lot of cars, thanks to a convenient and developed system there are no traffic jams here.
- One of Kyoto’s sister cities is Kyiv, which even has a Kyoto street in honor of its Japanese brother.
- There is a subway here. Only two branches, but quite long. One of them even connects this city with the neighboring one, Otsu.
- The Golden Pavilion, perhaps the most famous building in Japan, is located here. However, the Golden Pavilion is just a nickname, but in fact it is an ancient Buddhist temple Kinkaku-ji.