Mount Hiei

Kyoto, Japan

The temple of Enryakuji , the first Japanese outpost of the esoteric Tendai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mt. Hiei by Saichō (Dengyō Daishi) in 788. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendai's warrior monks, but it was rebuilt and remains the Tendai headquarters to this day.