Japan/Honshu: Nara – Horyu-ji Temple
To the west of Nara lies another temple complex – the Horyu-ji Temple – a massive site and a UNESCO World Heritage site in its own right. The temple was founded in 607 AD, and its main hall – Kondo – is recognized as the world’s oldest wooden building! Besides the main hall, there is also a large 33m high fives-story pagoda and another hall building – Yumedomo aka Hall of Dreams. Interestingly, a sampling of the wood used in the inner part of the pagoda showed that it was felled in 594 AD). The temple holds many of the Japanese national treasure – frescoes, statues, manuscripts – all dating to 7th century.
