Kyoto was founded as Heian-kyo, the new capital of Japan, when Emperor Kanmu moved the court there from Nagaoka, partly to escape the influence of powerful Buddhist monasteries in the earlier capital of Nara. It was laid out on a grid plan modelled on the Chinese Tang capital of Chang'an, with the imperial palace in the north. The city remained the seat of the imperial court for over a thousand years, even when real power was held by shoguns in Kamakura and Edo. It was the centre of Japanese culture, religion and the arts, and its temples, shrines and gardens survived the Second World War largely intact. The imperial court moved to Tokyo in 1868.
Before and after
- 787 CESecond Council of Nicaea
- 8th centuryRise of Neo-Confucianism
- 8 June 793 CEVikings raid Lindisfarne
- from 794 CE to 1185Heian period
- 18 November 794 CEFounding of Kyoto
- from 800 CE to 1600Mississippian culture
- 8th centuryOrigins of Prague
- from 8th century to 9th centuryRise of Carolingian Renaissance
- 800 CEBook of Kells
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 537 CEConstruction of Hagia Sophia
- 802 CEConstruction of Angkor Wat
- from 2 February 962 CE to 6 August 1806Holy Roman Empire
- 1193Origins of Chernobyl
- from 29 July 1299 to 17 November 1922Ottoman Empire
- 1373Construction of Leaning Tower of Pisa
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 8th century.