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In 743, the emperor Shomu ordered the building of a giant Buddha. Japan had been suffering from smallpox and drought, and the emperor hoped to settle unrest and unite the people with the relatively new ideas of Buddhism. The almost 15-meter high Buddha, cast in copper and coated with gold, was completed in 752. The structure housing it, known as the Daibutsu Den, is possibly the largest wooden building in the world, despite the fact that the present structure was rebuilt in 1790 at two thirds its original size. The official dedication took place by painting its eyes with a giant paintbrush, and the ceremony was presided by a visiting priest from India. Many important people attended this event, some from overseas, all bearing splendid gifts. Many of these items are stored in the Todaiji's treasure house, the Shosoin, which is currently administrated by the Imperial Household. Understandably, a great portion of the structures and artifacts are designated National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties. The Daibutsu Den is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Originally founded in Kyoto in 669 by Kamatari Fujiwara's wife to pray for his health, Kofukuji Temple was moved several times before settling in its present location in 710. Support by the Fujiwaras, and the Imperial family made it one of the wealthiest and most powerful temples in the country, and virtually swallowing Kasuga Taisha, it exercised great political power even after the capital moved to Kyoto in 794. Its wealth became depleted during the late Muromachi Period, until in 1600 Ieyasu Tokugawa granted an annual endowment enabling renovations of many of its structures. Today, many of what is left are designated National Treasures, the most notable being the 5-storey pagoda. There are also the Three-storeyed Pagoda, Middle and Eastern Golden Halls, and the North and South Octagonal Halls, each of which enshrine (or originally enshrined) various Buddhas and holy figures. Many of these artifacts are on display in the Kofukuji National Treasure Museum. Kofukuji is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1889 the Imperial Household ordered the establishment of Imperial Museums in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara. Thus, the French Renaissance-style Main Building was completed five years later, and along with the more recently added West and East Wings, houses a permanent collection of Buddhist Art dating as far back as the 6th century. Besides the expected sculptures and paintings, there are also sutra manuscripts, ritual implements and temple ornaments, and on the first floor of the West Wing is an architectural model of the City of Nara. In the fall, items from the treasure house of Todaiji Temple are shown in a limited exhibition. There is also a Research Center for Buddhist Art, where researchers and the general public may browse an extensive collection of books and photographs.

The Daijoin Temple was an affiliate of Kofukuji, but was destroyed in a peasants' uprising in 1451. When the temple was subsequently rebuilt, the gardener Zeami, famous for his design of the gardens at Ginkakuji in Kyoto, was hired to re-design the gardens. Unfortunately, the temple again fell to ruin after the Meiji Restoration, but a national trust has been set up and a scientific dig is being done, for the garden to be restored and re-opened in 2010. Recently (September 2005), the ruins of a garden house identified as Tansetsu-tei from old literature and paintings were discovered and has excited archaeologists. Until its reopening, visitors can see part of the gardens from the Former Daijoin Gardens Heritage Center and view exhibits on the temple and gardens.

This hexagonal gazebo-on-the-water is built over Sagi (heron) Pond in Nara Park, and its reflection in the water is a popular subject for artists and photographers. It is also beautiful on summer nights, when it is illuminated as part of "Light Up Promenade Nara."

Sarusawa Ike, a small pond at the entrance to Nara Park, was built by Kofukuji Temple for performing a Buddhist ceremony of releasing fish and other aquatic creatures into the pond each year. It is surrounded by willow trees, and the reflection of the 5-storey pagoda of Kofukuji on the water is considered one of the Eight Marvelous Sights of Nara. It is also famous for the Uneme Festival, held each September to appease the soul of a heart broken court lady who threw herself into this pond during the Nara Period (710-790).

This beautiful Japanese garden is actually two gardens. The Front Garden was originally part of a temple's grounds, but was bought by a wealthy family in the 1670s and rebuilt into a traditional private sanctuary of tranquil ponds and teahouses. The Rear Garden was built by a wealthy merchant in 1899, and is an excellent example of "borrowing scenery:" it is designed to emphasize the view of the mountains in the distance, making the garden appear larger. There is an art museum on the grounds that displays a private collection of ancient Chinese and Japanese pottery.

Naoya Shiga is a Japanese author from the turn of the century, known for his short stories and one long novel "An'ya Koro (A Dark Night's Passing)." The novel was written in two parts, and the second part was written in this house, which he designed and lived in between 1929 and 1938. Today it is used as a seminar house by the Nara Bunka Women's College, but is also partially open to the public for viewing.

Taikichi Irie was a renowned photographer who spent most of his life taking photographs of his hometown, Nara. His photographs capture the historic beauty and the natural serenity of the ancient capital, where culture and art flourished on a national scale, perhaps for the first time in Japan's history. Before his death in 1992, he helped establish the first museum of photography in Western Japan, and left all of his work to it. The museum's permanent exhibits rotate amongst the approximately 80,000 pieces donated by Irie, and there is also a Hi-Vision Gallery where selected photographs can be viewed as still images on a large screen.

Himuro means "ice house," and so Himuro Jinja is a rare shrine dedicated to the god of ice. Ice was originally made upstream of the Yoshiki River and stored in an ice house by the mountain, and presented to the Emperor through the spring and summer. The shrine was built over this natural freezer, but moved in 1217 to its present location in the city. An ancient ceremony has recently been revived: each year on the 1st of May, ice makers from the region get together to create two 1-meter-tall columns of ice, one containing freshwater fish (carp) and the other, saltwater fish (bream). These, along with flowers that have been frozen in ice, are presented to the ice god, in hopes that he will bring on a long, hot summer and thus good business for the ice makers. The shrine is also known for its beautiful drooping cherry blossoms in early April.

One of the oldest and largest shrines in Japan (Taisha means "big shrine"), Kasuga Taisha was built in 768 by the Fujiwaras, a clan that was powerful when Nara was made capital of Japan. There were originally four Shinto deities enshrined in four main structures, but a fifth was added in 1135. Over the years the shrine, closely affiliated with the powerful Kofukuji, received many sacred gifts from the Fujiwaras and the Imperial family, and many of these items are preserved in its treasure house. Today, visitors will be impressed by the bright vermillion lacquer on the wooden railings and the many lanterns hanging from its eaves. The lanterns are presented as offerings by worshippers, and are lighted twice a year in a beautiful ceremony. The deer, which roam freely all over the city, are thought to be sacred to this shrine. Kasuga Taisha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are conflicting stories as to whether this temple was built by the empress Komyo for her ailing husband, the emperor Shomu, or if it was the other way around, but in any case this temple was built in 747 and enshrines the Buddha of Medicine (Yakushi Nyorai) encircled by the 12 warrior deities of the Oriental zodiac. With the exception of one warrior, who was damaged in an earthquake and restored in 1931, these sculptures along with the main building are designated National Treasures. All of the other buildings were damaged or destroyed by earthquakes or fires, and were rebuilt some time during the Kamakura period (1192-1333). "Shin" means "spiritually potent," not "new," as is often thought, and is thus named to avoid confusion with an older temple called Yakushiji in Nishi-no-Kyo, a town to the southwest of Nara City.

This shrine was built in 749, to protect the Daibutsu (Big Buddha) construction project at Todaiji. The object of worship, the sitting statue Sogyo Hachimanshin, was moved to Todaiji after the Meiji Restoration when Shintoism (shrines) and Buddhism (temples) were separated, and is now designated a National Treasure. It is famous for its fall foliage, and a unique votive picture for worshippers to purchase and entrust their prayers upon.

Technically, Nara Park is a public greenspace in the middle of the city that measures just over 500 hectares and lies next to Kofuku-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha, the Nara National Museum, Wakakusa-yama Hill and Mt.Kasuga-yama virgin forest. By convention, however, all of these sites are considered to be part of the park. Deer, considered messengers of the god of Kasuga Taisha, graze all over the park and beg visitors for sembei (crackers) that can (conveniently) be purchased in stands. The park is beautiful in spring and summer for the blooms, and in fall for the colored leaves.

The botanical garden adjoining the Kasuga Shrine was opened in 1932, and contains a garden with over 300 species of plants, all mentioned in the Manyo-shu, an ancient collection of Japanese poetry. Plants are labeled with their names and the poem that it appears in. There are also the Wisteria Garden, Camellia Garden, Iris Garden, and the Five Grain Garden. The last contains plants that were used as food, textiles or dyes in the days of the Manyo-shu.