Built on the sacred Mt. Hiei, Enryaku-ji is the headquarters of the Tendai sect of Buddhism. Founded in 788 by Priest Saicho, posthumously known as Dengyo Daishi, meaning “Great Teaching Master,” it has long been an influential Buddhist monastery that produced many great priests such as Dogen and Shinran, the founders of the major sects of Japanese Buddhism developed in the Kamakura period. Although its complex was burned down by the dominant feudal lord, Oda Nobunaga in 1571, the temple halls were later reconstructed, and was placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1994.
(霊山・比叡山の延暦寺は天台宗の総本山である。諡号伝教大師最澄により788年に創建 され、道元や親驚ら鎌倉時代に発展した日本仏教の主な宗派の祖師など、多くの高僧を輩出した影響力のある寺院であった。伽藍は1571年に有力大名の織田信長により焼き討ち されるが、諸堂は後に再興され、1994年にはユネスコ世界遺産リストに記載された)