Cable Enryakuji

Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei is the head temple of the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism, a vast monastic complex founded in 788 AD that was once the most powerful religious institution in Japan. At its peak it housed 3,000 sub-temples and 30,000 monks who wielded formidable political influence; Oda Nobunaga destroyed the complex in 1571, massacring thousands of monks. The rebuilt complex, accessible by ropeway from Kyoto or Otsu, spreads across the misty mountain summit in three areas connected by forest paths.

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