Sekidōsan Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

More than a castle, Sekidōsan is a sacred mountain turned fortress. Its summit, close to 565 m, bears the Isuruki-hiko Shrine, one of the major shrines of Noto Province, while the southern slope holds the terraces of the former Ishiburi-ji temple. Tradition says the mountain housed about 300 sub-temples and 3,000 warrior monks. When the wars of the 16th century reached Noto, this community fortified its ridges with earthen ramparts and ditches. Allied with the Uesugi against the forces of Maeda Toshiie, it was the scene of the Battle of Arayama and the burning of the site in 1582. Rebuilt afterwards, the place gradually faded after the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in early Meiji. Stone walls, platforms, paved paths, more than twenty groups of pillar bases and stele-marked mounds remain within a National Historic Site of over 3 km².