Japan - Kyoto

Satomi - Japan - 03.12.2010

Shõren-in Temple, Kyoto. 

The garden backed by the greenery of Awata hill, was designed by Soami. 

Shōren-in (青蓮院?) is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Also known as the Awata Palace, it was built in the late 13th century.

Shōren-in was formerly the temple of the imperial abbot of the Tendai headquarters on Mount Hiei; the abbot was required to be chosen from the imperial family or high court aristocracy. After the Great Kyoto Fire of 1788, it was used as a temporary imperial palace. The main hall was rebuilt in 1895.

The temple complex contains a garden with massive eight-hundred year old camphor trees (kusonoki), and a pond filled with large stones and fed by a small waterfall.