The founding
In 794, Emperor Kanmu moved Japan's capital from Nara to a new city modeled on Tang Dynasty Chang'an (modern Xi'an). The city was laid out on a grid, divided into two halves, and named Heian-kyō — Capital of Peace and Tranquility. It remained the imperial seat for 1,074 years.
The Heian period (794–1185)
The Heian period produced much of what we now consider classic Japanese culture. The Tale of Genji — widely considered the world's first novel — was written here around 1000 AD by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu. Court aristocrats developed mono no aware (pathos of things), a sensitivity to beauty and impermanence that persists in Japanese aesthetics today.
Survival through the modern era
Kyoto was on the shortlist for atomic bombing in 1945 before being removed, partly due to its cultural significance. The city's survival is one of history's remarkable accidents — over 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines, and the only intact historic urban fabric of pre-modern Japan.