Mount Koya - Japan

The unesco card of the year was this surprise sent from Japan by Claus.

Mount Kōya is the name of a mountain in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka.

In 2004, Unesco designated Mt. Kōya, along with two other locations on the Kii Peninsula, Yoshino and Omine; and Kumano Sanzan, as World Heritage Sites, on the list under the name of "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range".

First settled in 819 by the monk Kukai, Mt. Kōya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Kōyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located in an 800 m high valley, the original monastery has grown into the town of Koya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims.
The card shows Kongobu-ji, the head temple of the Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism.