Nara

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nara

4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in or near Nara.

UNESCO sites in Nara

• Historic Monuments of Ancient NaraCultural · 1998 · 1 km

  Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. During this period the framework of national government was consolidated and Nara enjoyed great prosperity, emerging as the fountainhead of Japanese culture. The city's hist…

• Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji AreaCultural · 1993 · 9 km

  There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpi…

• Ancient Capitals of Asuka and FujiwaraCultural · 2026 · 20 km

  Located in the southern part of the Nara Basin, Asuka and Fujiwara were the two ancient capitals of the Japanese archipelago that marked the establishment of a centralised state system modelled after the Chinese codified…

• Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain RangeCultural · 2004 · 36 km

  Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites – Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan – linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, r…