Temple City: Historic Nara

For centuries the hub of Japanese culture, the lovely unspoiled city of Nara is home to a large number of historic buildings, along with important national treasures and works of art. In addition to its many historic streets, the city boasts numerous important old temples, including the magnificent seventh-century Kofuku-ji Temple, and perhaps the best known of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, the splendid eighth-century Todai-ji (Great East Temple), famous for its huge bronze statue of the Great Buddha (Daibutsu), cast here in AD 749. Also of interest in Todai-ji are its Great South Gate (Nandaimon), a two-story structure borne on 18 columns with two Nio statues standing eight meters tall and guarding the temple entrance, and the Hall of the Great Buddha, the world's largest timber building.