Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)

Kyoto's most iconic sight — a gold-leafed three-story pavilion perfectly mirrored in Kyokochi Pond. It began as a shogun's retirement villa in the Muromachi period and became a temple per his will. The current building is actually a 1955 reconstruction after a 1950 arson fire, but the view from the pond-side path remains the single most photographed scene in all of Kyoto.