

horse parking / Kiyomizu-dera
The “horse parking” at Kiyomizu-dera Temple served as a place for visitors to tie up their horses. This building also appears in the Muromachi period Noh play “Kumano” by Zeami, which suggests that it was an important facility from that time. The current stable was rebuilt after the Onin War, and is believed to have been renovated during the Edo period. As a result, the structure is characterized by a fusion of architectural styles from the Muromachi and Edo periods. The roof is gabled with a hon-gawara roofing, and the interior has five compartments that can hold five horses at the same time. One of the Seven Wonders of Kiyomizu-dera Temple is the existence of “reverse links,” in which the direction of the metal fittings (links) used to tie the reins are different in only two places, and the reason for this is still unclear. The horse parking lot was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1952, and was dismantled and repaired in 2010, and still retains its historical value today.