Architecture and Design Atlas

How Space Is Shaped
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme

Switch Atlas

Buildings and Structures

Kinkaku-ji

Religious and Sacred Buildings

Kinkaku-ji, officially named Rokuon-ji, is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and a major tourist attraction, designated a World Heritage Site, a National Special Historic Site, a National Special Landscape, and one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. It is nicknamed after its reliquary, the shariden known as the Golden Pavilion, whose top two floors are coated in gold leaf; the current pavilion was rebuilt in 1955 after the original was destroyed in an arson attack.

Facts
Building Type
Zen Buddhist Temple 1
Location
Kyoto, Japan 1
Completed Year
1397 2
The villa was converted into a Zen temple after Yoshimitsu's 1408 death; the current pavilion is a 1955 reconstruction after the original was destroyed by arson in 1950.
Classification
Standing Status
Standing 1
Building Type
Building Type (category)
Temple / Shrine 2
Connections

Has Building Type

Temple, Concepts

Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.

In Style

Japanese Traditional Architecture, Styles and Movements

A landmark of Japanese traditional architecture.

In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Japan, located there.
Sources
1. Kinkaku-ji (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Wikipedia article, History section, first paragraph
    Kinkaku-ji's history dates to 1397, when the villa was purchased from the Saionji family by shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and transformed into the Kinkaku-ji complex.
  • Entity description and the lead of the Wikipedia article
    Kinkaku-ji, officially named Rokuon-ji, is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and a major tourist attraction, designated a World Heritage Site, a National Special Historic Site, a National Special Landscape, and one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. It is nicknamed after its reliquary, the shariden known as the Golden Pavilion, whose top two floors are coated in gold leaf; the current pavilion was rebuilt in 1955 after the original was destroyed in an arson attack.
View the Source
2. Wikidata: Kinkaku-ji
  • Wikidata Q270983, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q270983, P571 claim (w-bbfill-artsarchag-0926)
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.