Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of
Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) ncompasses 17 locations in
Japan, within the city of Kyoto and its immediate vicinity. The locations
are in three cities: Kyoto and Uji in Kyoto Prefecture; and Ōtsu in Shiga
Prefecture; Uji and Ōtsu border Kyoto to the south and north, respectively.
Kyoto has a substantial number of historic buildings, unlike other Japanese
cities that lost buildings to foreign invasions and war; and has the largest
concentration of designated Cultural Properties in Japan. Although ravaged
by wars, fires, and earthquakes during its eleven centuries as the imperial
capital, Kyoto was spared from much of the destruction and danger of World
War II. It was saved from the nearly universal firebombing of large cities
in Japan in part to preserve it as the primary atomic bomb target.