HeijÅ-kyÅ
34.691111111111135.79472222222Koordinaten: 34 ° 41 ' 28 " N, 135 ° 47' 41" E
Heijo - kyō (Japanese平城 京, literally " Imperial residence of peace Castle " ) was during most of the Nara period ( 710-784 ) the capital of Japan. It was located on the territory of present-day Nara and gave the corresponding period its name.
Before the Taiho Code, it was common that the seat of government was moved after the death of the Emperor. This happened out of the superstition that places of death were spotted. 710, this changed, as Empress Gemmei established a permanent capital at Nara today. Nevertheless, the capital moved for political reasons after 740 Kuni - kyō ( Kizugawa ), 744 after Naniwa - kyō ( Osaka ) and 745 to the palace Shigaraki ( Kōka ) before it was moved back in May of the same year after Heijo - kyō.
Construction
Heijo - kyō followed like its predecessor, Fujiwara - kyō the model of the Chinese Tang capital Chang'an. From Rajomon in the south to the north Suzakumon the 75 m wide main street Suzaku was ōji (朱雀 大路, dt "Main Street of the Red Bird " ) to the Palace Heijo (平城 宫Heijo - kyū ). This main road divided Heijo - kyō into an eastern, left (左 京Sakyō ) and a western, right "capital" (右 京Ukyo ). Each of the two districts in turn was from south to north in nine Jō (条) and divided from east to west in four Bo (坊), a system of the city quartering of which (条 坊 制, JOBO is ) called Jobo system will. Each of these rectangles, also Bo (坊) called, with 532 m edge length in turn consisted of 4 × 4 Ho (保), each with 133 m edge length. In the northeast, another district was 5 Jō and 3 Bo, called "external capital " (外 京, Gekyō ), which forms the present center of Nara.
The total capital stretching from north to south for about 4.8 km and from east to west without 4.3, and 5.9 km of the extension on an area of 20 or 24 km ². The population was 200,000 (4% of the then population of Japan ) and including 10,000 government employees.
In and around Heijo - kyō, the Nanto Shichi Daiji (南 都 七大 寺), were the " seven major temples of the southern capital ," which were protected by the imperial court: Saidai -ji and Yakushi -ji in Ukyo, the Daian -ji in Saikyo, the gango -ji, Kōfuku -ji and Todai -ji in Gekyō, as well as the Hōryū -ji in Ikaruga. Since the latter, however, about 9 km from the center of Heijo - kyō is removed, instead of Toshodai -ji is called in Ukyo occasionally. Meanwhile Lecture Hall ( Kodo ) is the only remaining building from the Heijo - Kyo.
Palace Heijo
The main road ended on Suzaku - mon, surrounded by the rest of the palace buildings. The main building of the palace complex were the Audience Hall (大 极 殿, Daigokuden ), the Chodo - in (朝堂 院) for formal ceremonies, the residence of the emperor (内 里, Dairi ) and the offices of each office. The foundations and traces of these buildings are on the ruins still visible.
When the capital was moved to Heian - kyō, the imperial palace was abandoned. Over the centuries, the building fell slowly until in the Kamakura period of the above-ground plant was nothing more practically available; the underground again remained. As the palace grounds remained all the time in an imperial possession, no new buildings could be built without its permission.
1955 began archaeological excavations and restoration work, so that to this day the Suzaku - mon and the Toin - Garden (东 院 庭园Toin, files ) could be restored. 1959 declared National Cultural Organization of Nara, that the land should remain unchanged. Exceptions were made for archaeological research, restoration and construction of a railway line that runs through the southern part. In 1998, the grounds for the public has been released. In the same year, the site was recorded along with the surrounding temples in the list of UNESCO World Heritage.