Kinkaku-ji, Golden Pavilion Temple, Kyoto

Kinkaku-ji is a beautiful Buddhist temple in Kyoto, the name translates as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. It is one of Kyoto’s historic monuments and definitely worth a visit.
It dates back to 1397 when it was owned by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, when he died it was made into a Zen temple by his family.
Most of the site apart from the pavilion was burnt down in the Onin war (1467-1477) and then in 1950 the pavilion was burnt down by a novice monk.
It was rebuilt in 1955, close to the original design. The gold comes from the outer layer of gold leaf covering the building.