Architecture and Design Atlas

How Space Is Shaped
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Buildings and Structures

Ryoan-ji

Religious and Sacred Buildings

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

Ryoan-ji is a Zen temple in northwest Kyoto, Japan, belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism. Its garden is considered one of the finest surviving examples of kare-sansui, a refined style of Japanese Zen temple garden generally featuring larger rock formations set amid a sweep of smooth pebbles raked into linear patterns meant to aid meditation, and the temple and its gardens are listed among the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cross-Tradition Connections

In Style

A landmark of Japanese traditional architecture.

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.