"Yasaka Shrine: On the way in Gion" Yasaka Shrine Tip by AKtravelers

the Yasaka Shrine is a pefect example of a place you visit because it's there -- you're in Gion, you see a colorful temple/shrine like complex and you naturally gravitate towards it. I've been to kyoto three rimes and been near the Yasaka Shrine. Each time, I curiously decided to enter the grounds, even without knowing what the place was about. It was beautiful, espcially around sunset. it was spiritual. it was peaceful. and it definitely was worth a visit. I just didn't know why at the time.
Now I know that initial construction began in 656 and it came under the wing of the Imperial Court in the early Heian period, right after Kyoto became the capital. After the Meiji restoration, it was put in the highest ranking category of government shrines until Shinto was distestablished by the American occupation government in 1946.