Sendai Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

At the end of 1600, Date Masamune chose the heights of Aobayama overlooking the Hirose River. The site was not virgin ground: it had previously held Chiyo Castle, associated with the Kokubu. Work on the main enclosure began in January 1601 and took about two years. His successor Tadamune started a second enclosure in 1638. The Date, rulers of a domain of more than 600,000 koku, resided here throughout the Edo period. The 17th century also left a less glorious mark: earthquakes brought down sections of wall, which were then rebuilt, and archaeologists today read three successive states in the masonry, from rough stone laid at a shallow slope to dressed stone. After the abolition of the domains, the army occupied the site, stationed a garrison in the second enclosure and dismantled the palace. The great gate and its side tower, designated national treasures in 1931, were lost in the 1945 bombing; the tower was rebuilt in 1967. An earthen wall north of the gate may be the only old structure still standing, according to the city of Sendai, which words this cautiously. Protected since 2003, the site is now a park, and the municipality plans to rebuild the great gate by around 2036, a project still at the planning stage.