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→Geography
==Geography==
==Geography==
[[File:Heiankyo-Model.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Model of the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|Heian Imperial Palace]] and parts of the city as they might have looked in the [[Heian period]]. Reproduction at Kyoto City Heiankyo Sosei-Kan Museum.]]
[[File:Heiankyo-Model.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Model of the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|Heian Imperial Palace]] and parts of the city as they might have looked in the [[Heian period]]. Reproduction at Kyoto City Heiankyo Sosei-Kan Museum.]]
Kyoto was built on the model of the Chinese city of [[Chang'an]] (today called Xi'an), its location carefully chosen and layout carefully arranged according to Chinese concepts of geomancy. The center of the city is for the most part laid out in a grid, with the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]] at the center, its gates facing the cardinal directions. [[Buddhist temple]]s in the mountains on the eastern side of the city (the [[Higashiyama]] area) were purposefully erected there to defend the city from spiritual dangers and corruptive forces which are traditionally believed to flow from that direction.
Kyoto was built on the model of the Chinese city of [[Chang'an]] (today called Xi'an), its location carefully chosen and layout carefully arranged according to Chinese concepts of geomancy. The center of the city is for the most part laid out in a grid, with the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]] at the center, its gates facing the cardinal directions. A main boulevard called Suzaku-ôji ran directly south from the Palace's south gate, the Suzakumon, to the Rajômon, the southern gate of the official city boundaries.[[Buddhist temple]]s in the mountains on the eastern side of the city (the [[Higashiyama]] area) were purposefully erected there to defend the city from spiritual dangers and corruptive forces which are traditionally believed to flow from that direction.
The [[Kamo River]], which enters the city from the north and passes between the two [[Kamo Shrines]] near the northern edge of the ancient city, originally marked the eastern edge of Heian-kyô, though the city later expanded beyond it.
The [[Kamo River]], which enters the city from the north and passes between the two [[Kamo Shrines]] near the northern edge of the ancient city, originally marked the eastern edge of Heian-kyô, though the city later expanded beyond it.