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Location: Kyoto (Japan)
Creation: Beginning of creation: 1615, palace - 1590
Customer / Founder: Princes Toshihito and Toshitada, Kobori Enshu
The Katsura palace ensemble was conceived as a place of solitude and hermitage for members of the imperial family. It is located near the Katsura River southwest of Kyoto, which has been the capital of Japan for over a thousand years.
The main palace pavilion is a simple wooden post-and-beam structure with rooms covered with thatched tatami mats and a raised open veranda from where one could contemplate the beauty of the surrounding nature. The garden, trees and small pavilions located around the main building of the ensemble are connected by cleverly laid paths and resemble the magical landscapes sung in Japanese medieval poetry. Emphatically simple palace buildings are in harmony with the surrounding space and, as it were, blur the line between artificial and natural. Man-made hedges and stone paths blend into the landscape more and more organically under the influence of time, and the lush vegetation, thanks to careful and regular maintenance, looks especially decorative.
Palace buildings and gardens fell into decay during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and were desolate until the German modernist architect Bruno Taut opened the eyes of Europeans to Japanese folk architecture. The palace has been visited by many famous architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, etc. They were amazed at the ability of the Japanese to use natural materials, amazed at the simplicity, flexibility and mobility of forms, which at that time fully corresponded to the tastes of Americans and Europeans.
The architecture of the Katsura palace
- Vegetation... Only at close range can you see that the trees and shrubs, so natural in appearance, are neatly trimmed. The arrangement of the plants surrounding the palace creates the impression of a harmonious balance between calmness and movement, between austere form and the artist's imagination.
- « Sekintei". The Sekintei, or Pine Lute Pavilion, is the most important of the tea pavilions. A stone bridge connects it with a path leading to the central pavilion - the sein. The Sekintei is covered with a simple thatched roof; inside - partitions made of wood, paper and bamboo. The kitchen has everything needed for the tea ceremony, which is performed in the main room, where guests are seated directly on the tatami. Raised on pillars, the building is closely connected with the surrounding space, and its decoration is very simple. Some of the outer columns are deliberately not finished - the bark covering them is left untouched. All beams, however, have been carefully sanded to enhance the natural beauty of the wood.
- Overhanging roofs. Strongly protruding roof overhangs protect the interior from the scorching heat and rain - water flows down them onto a strip of gravel that borders the house. The diffused light entering the room is reflected off the stone paths and softened by thin paper screens that are inserted into sliding doors - shoji. The shoji in the Japanese house is being replaced by windows.
- Craving for solitude. The craving for solitude and hermitic life is reflected in the name of one of the tea pavilions - "Pavilion of mocking thoughts" ("Sei-ken"). The name is inspired by the works of the Chinese poet Li Bo, who became a hermit in order to laugh at the bustle of the world.
- Sein. The main palace pavilion is built in the national architectural style of senn-zukuri. The building was intended for private practice of ikebana, painting, reading and calligraphy.
- Stones. Stones on the lawn overgrown with grass and moss outline picturesque winding paths leading to pavilions and islets on the lake. The smooth and rough boulders are carefully selected and deliberately uneven to contrast with the straight paths that line the building.
- Seasonal changes. The architecture of the building provides through ventilation, which is necessary during humid and hot seasons. However, the lack of insulation and thermal insulation makes the house vulnerable during the winter dampness and cold weather. In this fragile, unprotected home, the aesthetic experiences associated with the changing seasons - the premonition of the spring cherry blossom and the yearning for the fallen autumn leaves - takes on a special acuteness.
- Veranda. The bamboo-lined veranda is raised off the ground. From this place, they contemplated the reflection of the moon on the surface of the lake. The meaning of the word "katsura" is associated with trees, the moon and the world of dreams.
- Lake. A group of casually scattered stones leads to a small artificial lake. They made night boat trips along the lake, admiring the rising moon. A path running along the lake bends around parts of the garden, reproducing various landscapes in miniature.
- Bogovaya I.O., Fursova L.M. "Landscape art", Agropromizdat, 1988
- A.V. Ikonnikov The artistic language of architecture M .: Art, 1985, ill.
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The Japanese city of Kyoto is not just an amazing city with wonderful architectural monuments. For one and a half million inhabitants of Kyoto today there are about 200 temples, hundreds of parks and dozens of palaces. The Japanese themselves call their city a national treasure, and indeed a fifth of all the masterpieces of Japanese architecture are located in Kyoto.
But Kyoto is also a very special place with irresistible magic. The history of the city began on October 22, 794, when Emperor Kammu and the crown prince entered the new capital, called Heian, a city of peace and tranquility. Before that, the Japanese capital was located in the city of Nagaoka, but palace intrigues led to a political assassination, and then the imperial court decided to change its place of residence, as the city was desecrated by the shed blood. The village of Uda in Kadono County was chosen to choose a new capital. The emperor came here twice in 792 to inspect the place chosen by his entourage. The village was located in a picturesque valley among the mountains, and construction work began here already in 793. The Japanese imperial court then followed Chinese standards in everything, and the new capital was built in the Chinese manner - with flat streets intersecting at right angles. For more than a thousand years, Kyoto was the capital of the Land of the Rising Sun, sometimes becoming a victim of fires and civil strife, then experiencing times of prosperity. The waves of history carried away many unique monuments and masterpieces of architecture, but what has survived amazes everyone who has visited the city with the severity and sparseness of lines, splendor and richness of colors. Now there are so many historical buildings and monuments, temples and shrines, palaces, fences and gardens in Kyoto. that everywhere you can find any sight: the hollow curved roof of the temple, a pagoda rising in the distance, or a street on which the facades of old houses look out. The Katsura palace complex is rightfully considered a special pride of the Japanese, its medieval simplicity and beauty of constantly changing park landscapes, harmoniously combined with graceful pavilions and gazebos. Katsura Rikyu was built as a suburban imperial palace. It is known that since the 9th century, the land on which the palace complex is now located was owned by the aristocratic Fujiwara family, and at the beginning of the 17th century it was acquired by Prince Toshihito, gifted with many talents. He knew classical Japanese and Chinese poetry, loved to draw and play the koto, was a master of flower arranging and a great admirer of the tea ceremony. In 1615, Prince Toshihito began to build a palace, the first buildings of which were distinguished by the simplicity that testified to the impeccable taste of his owner. In the circles of researchers, there is an assumption that Prince Toshihito used the advice of Kobori Enshu - a genius architect, poet, potter, master of the tea ceremony and specialist in garden planning all rolled into one. True, there are historical records that other masters were engaged in the decorative arrangement of the garden, but the style of K. Ensu is felt everywhere. However, the prince himself did not have time to enjoy the beauty of his country palace, and after his death everything fell into disrepair. The second stage in the construction of the palace is associated with the son of Toshihito - Toshidada, who inherited the talents of his father, and his financial problem was solved by his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy feudal lord Maeda. Toshidad's new buildings did not in any way violate the original plans of his father, but on the contrary, they organically blended into the already created, and thus, in terms of beauty and architectural solution, a single palace complex was obtained. The palace ensemble, built on the banks of the Katsura River, covers an area of 56,000 square meters. ... In the center there is a large pond of a very peculiar shape with five islets connected to each other by wooden or stone bridges. The main part of the palace ensemble unites three buildings into a single whole - the old shoin, the middle shoin and the new palace. The buildings of the old and middle shoin are located in such a way as to avoid the sun's rays in the summer, but to catch the soft sun rays in the winter, and in the fall to allow the opportunity to admire the full moon. Their roofs, thanks to the different heights of the buildings, create a varied scenic rhythm with their overhanging cornices. The first floor of each building is surrounded by a veranda, which is separated from the outer space by shoji - sliding walls. The veranda is raised above the ground on tall and thin wooden props. The rooms, like the verandas, have sliding walls made of wooden frames with thick paper glued to them. Such walls can delimit interiors and separate them from the surrounding nature. Prince Toshihito was very fond of admiring the moon and built a special platform for this in the old shoin. In the middle shoin, Toshihito's living rooms were located. Their interior is very interesting, since the landscape on the walls and sliding walls is perceived as a natural landscape, visible through the open doors. Thus, the border between the inner and outer space is, as it were, destroyed. The middle shoin is connected to the new palace by a room for storing musical instruments, and a wide veranda for playing music is framed by it. The doors between the music room and the new palace are decorated in a very peculiar way. These flowers are typical for each season: in spring - sakura and wisteria, in summer - susuki and hibisuke, in autumn - chrysanthemums, in winter - plum, camellia and daffodils. Natural building materials, which play a huge role in the decoration of buildings, give an exquisite simplicity to the Katsura Palace. ... Cryptomeria of natural color, a wicker lattice fence made of bamboo, white sliding walls, paths of stone against a background of moss, gutters strewn with small pebbles - everything creates a feeling of noble simplicity. An integral part of the Katsura palace complex are tea houses standing on the shore of a pond, without which it is impossible to imagine imagine a traditional Japanese garden. The water surface itself, as it were, becomes a material for an endless alternation of landscapes, designed for different seasons, days and for different weather. One part of the pond in Katsura is famous, for example, for the romantic reflection of the autumn moon, sung by many poets. The most elegant of the tea pavilions is Shokintei, surpassing all other teahouses of that era in its decorativeness. On the east, west and north sides, it faces the pond; The low overhanging roof of the Shokintei keeps it cool even on a hot day. There are several rooms in this pavilion. The first contains a tokonoma (wall niche with a raised floor) and a stone hearth, which is used in winter. The paper in the niche is in the form of large squares - white and blue. This shape is repeated in the floor mats and in the sliding walls. The last room of the Shokintei Pavilion opens onto the garden. This gradual transition of the interior into the space of the garden, which in turn turns into a natural landscape, is one of the characteristic features of Japanese architecture. Even the sound of the wind and the singing of birds play a large role in creating an emotional mood. After all, Shokintei is a pavilion of "pines and lutes", when the sound of the wind playing in the surrounding pines is perceived in the rooms as the sounds of a lute. Another tea pavilion - Geppa-ro - gives its originality to the autumn season. Maples grow near the pavilion, the leaves of which turn purple in autumn. From this pavilion, you can admire the reflection of the moon in the pond, and from the veranda of the old shoin, watch its rise. There is also a Buddhist temple built in the Chinese style on the territory of the palace complex. Prince Toshidada dedicated it to his father. The suburban imperial palace of Katsura is famous not only for the architecture of its buildings. The palace garden combines the features of a wide variety of park ensembles, but its general character approaches the style of tea gardens, when the perception of the landscape occurs in the process of movement, the direction and rhythm of which is set by the paths. A visit to the Katsura palace complex usually consists of a short walk along the whimsical winding paths parka. The park, in fact, was conceived for walking and admiring the landscapes created by the most skilled gardeners. When you walk through the park, the landscape changes with your movement: for example, the pond either completely disappears or appears in front of you completely unexpectedly. The constant movement of space is a feature of traditional Japanese architecture, because the Japanese are great masters of enclosing nature in a small space. One of the famous visitors to Katsura said that this palace complex was created to "think with the eyes." This statement becomes clear even after a short walk through the palace, when once a year its doors are opened to visitors. Among the many attractions of the palace, they are shown the "Chamber of Peace and Coolness", in which during solemn ceremonies the emperor sat on a matting platform under expensive silk canopies. A staircase leads to this platform, on the sides of which there are two wooden lions protecting the emperor from evil forces. When a visitor at the entrance to the "Chamber of Peace and Coolness" stepped on one of the boards, with the help of a special device, an alarm was immediately raised and a formidable guard appeared.
(Katsura Imperial Villa)
The Imperial Villa Katsura (Katsura Rikyu), with an area of about 6.6 hectares, is one of the most significant cultural treasures and the most striking masterpieces of Japanese gardening art.
The western region of Kyoto, where the Villa is located, is famous for its historical buildings, including those dating back to the Heian Dynasty (794-1192). For example, here is the Villa Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1028) - a famous aristocrat and ruler of Japan.
The largest building of Villa Katsura - the Imperial Palace - originally belonged to the princes of the Hachijo-no-miya clan, and today it is managed by the Imperial Household Agency and receives visitors by appointment. The current prince Katsura does not live in the palace, like other members of the imperial family, he spends most of his time in Tokyo.
Prince Hachijo Toshihito (1579-1629), founder of Villa Katsura, was born on February 13, 1579. He was the sixth son of Prince Sanehito, and a descendant of the Japanese Emperor Ogimachi. In 1586, Toshihito was adopted by the prominent Japanese politician Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but they separated in 1589 when Hideyoshi had a son of their own. As a "compensation" Hideyoshi donated part of his land to Toshihito, which he sold profitably for 15,000 bushels of rice, and with the proceeds he built a new house in the imperial district of Kyoto, where other members of the Hachijo family lived.
From an early age, Toshihito was fond of literature. One of his favorites was The Tale of Genji, one of the greatest works of Japanese classical literature, written during the Heian era. He was well acquainted with the poetry of the past and present, and was interested in the works of the poet Po Chu-i. Toshihito loved literature so much that he copied excerpts from his favorite works and re-read them while relaxing. One of his favorite quotes was the dictum from The Tale of Genji: "Far away, at the edge of Katsura village, the reflection of the moon on the water is clear and calm." Therefore, when Toshihito obtained land along the southern bank of the Katsura River, where The Tale of Genji was set, he set out to build a villa based on the one described in the book. However, since Toshihito did not have much savings, the first villa he built looked like a tea house.
After some time, Toshihito promoted the acquaintance and marriage of the new imperial family, which made him a big figure in the social and political life of the country, a welcome guest in the imperial palace and a wealthy man. In 1624, he spent significant funds to expand the villa, a pond was dug in the center of the garden, and artificial hills were formed along its banks. A priest who visited Villa Katsura in 1624 wrote that it was "the best view in Japan". In 1631, the main building of the villa was officially awarded the title of "palace".
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Prince Toshihito died in 1629, when his son Toshitada was only ten years old. At a young age, Toshitada did not deal with the villa and the garden. However, he shared the same interests as his father and visited the villa in 1641. After marrying the daughter of the ruler of the Kaga principality, his income increased significantly, and he invested in the repair and reconstruction of the family estate. Toshitada rebuilt the house as well as several teahouses. After these renovations, the fame of Villa Katsura has grown significantly.
Prince Toshitada died in 1662, and his heir only a few years later. The fourth and fifth princes of the generation died in their teens, making it impossible to care for the villa. Only the seventh prince of the generation, Yakahito, has been to the Villa several times and has made repairs here many times, in accordance with the layout of its original layout.
The villa combines the architectural principles characteristic of early Shinto temples and integrates them with the aesthetics and philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Many traditional Japanese techniques can be seen here, such as the use of raised floors with reed tatami mats. The tatami mats are 90x180 cm rugs that are used on all floors of the palace, including terraces and verandas with beautiful views of the landscape. The floors of each building of the Villa are raised, which is typical for the structures of ancient Japanese granaries, as well as early imperial palaces. Thanks to this design, the floor in the houses always remains dry, but, in addition, a hierarchy of space is created. Other classic examples seen at the Katsura Imperial Villa are shoji and fusuma decorated paper walls, decorative wall niches (tokonoma), and built-in tables (tsukeshoin).
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The Villa's teahouses are an excellent example of how Zen Buddhist philosophy can influence architecture and landscape. The tea ceremonies that take place in these pavilions are an important part of the life of Japanese society and a certain spiritual ritual that symbolizes Perfection in the Zen tradition. Five different tea houses isolated from each other are surrounded by herbal compositions and are inscribed in the landscape of the Villa. In order to harmoniously combine the buildings with the external space, the wooden supports were covered with bark, and other man-made wooden elements were given irregular, close to natural forms.
In addition, the teahouses are very interesting from the inside. The windows here are at eye level of a seated person, which creates additional harmony and brings visitors closer to nature, so that you can "admire the cherry blossoms in spring and raspberry foliage in the fall ... while waiting for tea to be made or savoring delicious cuisine."
The old living room (shoin), built by Prince Toshihito to accommodate large numbers of people and hold informal meetings, consists of rooms with nine, ten, and fifteen tatami mat and has ceilings supported by wooden planks. On the south side, there is a room with a veranda that showcases elements of the sukiyya style, which suggests that the veranda is in the style of a tea ceremony. A bamboo platform designed to relax under the light of the moon extends beyond the veranda.
Compared to the Old Living Room, the Central Living Room is L-shaped, with a niche (tokonoma) on one of its walls, and decorative shelves (tigaidana) arranged in a checkerboard pattern on the other. The walls are adorned with graphic images of landscapes as well as the seven wise men in a bamboo grove.
The adjacent living room is believed to have served as the residence of the prince, as evidenced by the presence of a bathroom and toilet. The living room is surrounded by a veranda on both sides, from where you can admire the garden.
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The buildings and, to a lesser extent, the gardens of Villa Katsura became the object of study of many modernist architects in the 20th century, who drew information from the works of the famous German architect Bruno Taut. Le Corbusier and later Walter Gropius, who visited the Villa in 1953, drew inspiration from its minimalist and orthogonal design. Villa Katsura also became well known thanks to Australian architects such as Philip Cox, Peter Mueller and Neville Gruzman who visited it in the late 1950s and 1960s.
The garden is famous for its natural, mythical landscapes, laid out around a large pond. The garden design is a miniature version of Amanohashidate, one of Japan's three most famous natural beauties. Three islands in the lake resemble the mythical Isles of the Blessed - a sacred overseas country somewhere at the end of the world.
Villa Katsura is located a 15-minute walk from Katsura Station, Hankyu Line, Kyoto. Free tours are held six times a day on weekdays (in Japanese only). There are no tours of Katsura Rikyu on Sundays, public holidays and some Saturdays.
Photo: Olga Grozina,
Landscape Center "Charm of Nature",
KATSURA - Imperial villa in the southeastern part of Kyoto (Japan). In the garden of Villa Katsura, located around a large pond, landscapes of mountains, sea, fields, streams, rice plantations, etc. are recreated. But the true attraction of the garden is the bamboo hedges. Of particular interest are the Katsura-gaki and Ho-gaki hedges. The first consists of intertwined bamboo shoots, and the second consists of dry bamboo stems and leaves.
It was built in 1602 on flat terrain. The park has a network of canals and ponds, small artificial hills, for which the excavated soil served as filling. Its area is 10 hectares. It completely isolated the space from the surrounding park, so that all attention is focused on the interior landscapes. It is used for walking and boat trips.
The constant change of pictures harmoniously merges into one another. The leading role is assigned to a wide variety of conifers and shrubs. The walking route is unusually long, and this is due to the very winding contours of the shores and islets.
GOSHO - Kyoto Imperial Palace
In the historical part of modern Kyoto, there is a huge garden, in the depths of which the old imperial palace - Gosho - is hidden. In its present form, it is not the same palace that was built for Emperor Kammu in 795.
That palace was called Daidairi - the Great Imperial Palace, it was located on the northern outskirts of the city. It would have been the oldest building in Kyoto if it hadn't been burned many times, not even ashes remained from that palace.
And where Gosho is now located, Sato-dairi was located - a small rural palace in which the emperor hid from all the troubles and misfortunes that happened in Daidairi. Gosho Palace became the official imperial residence under Emperor Kogon in 1331. And 28 generations of Japanese emperors lived in Gosho until Emperor Meiji moved to Edo on November 26, 1868, which was renamed Tokyo, becoming the capital of Japan.
The palace was opened to the general public in 1946. Twice a year, in spring and autumn, during the week you can get here with a guided tour.
The palace is a national treasure of Japan and the property of the imperial family.
In 1868, the capital of Japan was moved from Kyoto to. But Kyoto has retained its significance as a cultural center of the country, as a treasury of national architecture and gardening art.
Imperial park
Majestic pine trees and views of the distant Higashiyama mountains distinguish the Imperial Park (Kyoto Gyoen), a spacious oasis located in the heart of the city. It houses the Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho) and the Palace of the Retired Emperor (Sento Gosho), whose charming landscape garden was built by Tokugawa for the retired Emperor Go-Mizuno in 1630. The Imperial Household Agency (Kunaich), where tickets are sold for visiting the imperial chambers, as well as the villas Shugakuin and Katsura, located in the northwest corner of the park.
Near the southern end of the park, there is a delightful pond with an arched bridge left over from the possessions of several noble families that occupied most of the park's territory. From the bridge, you can see Canraimon - the majestic gate in the southern wall of the palace, which is used only by the emperor. The palace buildings were built after 1855. The ceremony of the emperor's accession to the throne is held in Shishinden.
Imperial Villa Katsura
Serious attention to detail is often cited as one of the finest examples of Japanese landscape architecture, thanks to its creators' serious attention to detail. Built in 1620 by Hachizo no Miya Toshihito, a prince of the imperial blood, it was later completed by his son Toshitada. The luxurious Katsura Walking Garden is famous for the fact that its paths and stones "control" the visitor's line of sight, revealing a sequence of ingeniously planned perspectives. The view from the Shokintei (pine zither) tea shelter reproduces the setting of Amanohashidate. Many of the views in the garden date back to the places mentioned in the Chinese and Japanese classics. A short tour includes the Shoikatei ("tea house of flower viewing") at the highest part of the garden, followed by a visit to the Shoiken ("tea house of the sense of humor") and then the main building of the villa, the sequence of halls of which reminds the imagination of the poets of a flock of flying geese.
How to get there: Katsura station, Hankyu line. Bus 33 to Katsura Rikyu-mae.
! Only by prior request, Mon-Fri, petitions must be submitted to the Agency of the Imperial Court.
