Heian-kyō Capital City

Timeline

1. 794–850Within the walled city of Heian-kyō · Yamashiro ProvinceEmperor Kanmu relocated the capital from Nagaoka-kyō to Heian-kyō, planning it on the ward system with the Suzaku Avenue running north-south; the area of the Great Imperial Palace and Heian Jingū laid down the pattern of Japan's capital for a thousand years, replacing Nara as the court's permanent center.
2. c. 900–1100Kyoto · Yamashiro ProvinceIn the mid-Heian period Kyoto became a city where court aristocrats, Buddhist temples, and manor-based economies converged; literary works such as The Tale of Genji, gagaku music, and festival traditions took shape there, while samurai strongholds like Rokuhara gradually penetrated the capital.
3. c. 1171–1180The Rokuhara area of Kyoto · Yamashiro ProvinceTaira no Kiyomori controlled the court from Rokuhara, making Kyoto the stage where the warrior regime and the court coexisted, marking Heian-kyō's transformation from an aristocratic capital into a samurai political hub on the eve of the Kamakura shogunate.