Horyu-ji temple

Horyu-ji (法隆寺) is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga (斑鳩), Nara （奈良）Prefecture, Japan. It was founded by the Emperor's son, Prince Regent Shotoku （聖徳太子）(574-622), and its full name is Horyu Gakumon-ji (法隆学問寺), or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, named as such because the site serves as a seminary as well as a monastery. The temple is widely acknowledged to have some of the oldest wooden buildings existing in the world, and is one of the most celebrated temples in Japan. It is said that the original temple was destroyed by fire in 670, and the existing buildings in the temple's main compound, Sai-in (西院/West Temple), are those which had been rebuilt and completed by 711. In 1993, Horyu-ji was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Japanese government lists it as a National Treasure.