page_title: Hōryū-ji
section_title: Kondō
hierarchical_section_title: Hōryū-ji / Architecture / Kondō
caption_attribution_description: English: Yumedono (夢殿 - Hall of Dreams) at Horyu-ji Buddhist temple, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan 日本語: 夢殿 - 奈良県斑鳩町法隆寺 Gaeilge: Teampall Halla na nAisling (夢殿) - An tSeapáin.
context_page_description: Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji, or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery.
  The temple was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607, but according to the Nihon Shoki, in 670 all buildings were burned down by lightning. However, reconstructed at least 1,300 years ago, the Kondō is widely recognized as the world's oldest wooden building.
  A fire that broke out during the dismantling and repair of Kondo on January 26, 1949 destroyed a mural of the Asuka period, a national treasure, and shocked the Japanese. Based on this accident, the day when the fire broke out is now fire prevention day for cultural properties.
  In 1993, Horyu-ji Temple, along with Hokki-ji, was registered as Japan's first UNESCO World Heritage site under the name of Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
  A tree ring survey conducted in 2001 revealed that the shinbashira of the five-story pagoda were cut down in 594, before burned down in 670.
context_section_description: The kondō, located side by side to the Pagoda in Sai-in, is another one of the oldest wood buildings extant in the world. The hall measures 18.5 meters by 15.2 meters. The hall has two stories, with roofs curved in the corners. Only the first story has a double roof. This was added later in the Nara period with extra posts to hold up the original first roof because it extended more than four meters past the building.
  Due to a fire that broke out on January 26, 1949, severe damage was caused to the building, mainly its first floor, and the murals. As a result of the restoration (completed in 1954), it is estimated that about fifteen to twenty percent of the original seventh century Kondo materials is left in the current building, while the charred members were carefully removed and rebuilt to a separate fireproof warehouse for future research.
  Through a recent dendrochronological analysis carried out using the materials preserved during the restorations done in the 1950s, it has turned out that some of them were felled prior to 670, suggesting a possibility that the current kondō was already under construction when "the fire in 670", as recorded in the Nihon Shoki, burned the former Wakakusa-garan down.
  The hall holds the famous Shaka Triad, together with a bronze Yakushi and Amida Nyorai statues, and other national treasures. The wall paintings shown today in the Kondō are a reproduction from 1967.
caption: Yumedono, a hall associated with Prince Shōtoku
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