Sanzen-in sits in the village of Ōhara in a mountain valley about an hour north of central Kyoto, and is one of the most beautiful escapes from the city. The temple was founded in the ninth century, moved repeatedly, and settled in its current location in 1118; it is one of the rare monzeki temples — historically headed by imperial princes. The complex is small and compact, but the surrounding moss garden and the wooden walkways through the temple buildings combine to a particularly serene visit.
The main hall (Ōjō Gokurakuin), a 985 building moved here in the early Edo period, holds a triad of seated Amida and attendants, the bodhisattvas leaning forward as if listening — a famous example of late-Heian sculpture in the Ōjō ("welcoming") posture. Walking the moss garden afterwards, with the white-and-grey Jizō statues hidden in the moss and the cedar trees rising in every direction, is a balm if the city has been too much.