清水寺

About this photo

Trees cover the whole mountainside, and the roofs of temple halls peek out between them. At the upper left you can see a large roof and part of a veranda with a railing. The photo is dark and heavy, but it shows Kiyomizudera wrapped in the woods of the mountain. It is one of the photos in Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto), published in 1909 (Meiji 42).

The main hall, a National Treasure, was rebuilt in 1633 with a donation from Tokugawa Iemitsu. The famous "Stage of Kiyomizu" that juts out from it is held up by zelkova pillars, said to number 139, and not a single nail is used. This way of building is called kakezukuri. The temple's name is said to come from the pure water of the Otowa Waterfall.

Glossary