Shiogama Shrine (鹽竈神社) 鹽竈神社
202 steps up to the shrine of 1704, with 14 buildings that are Important Cultural Properties.
The first written mention of the shrine dates from 820, in the fiscal register ‘Kōnin-shiki’: the founding date officially remains unknown. Date Masamune, the lord who had just founded Sendai, had its main structure rebuilt in 1607; another rebuilding followed in 1663 under the fourth daimyo, Date Tsunamura. The structures visible today come from building work begun in 1695 and completed in 1704: the two twin shrines (right and left) plus a separate shrine to the west, gates, corridors and a tower gate, fourteen buildings and a stone torii in all, designated national Important Cultural Properties on 26 December 2002. Later restorations are documented in 1882, 1902, 1922 and 1942. On the same hill, behind its own gate with separate hours, also stands Shiwahiko Shrine (志波彦神社): you visit the two deities on the same round.
Miyagi
Hon-Shiogama, Shiogama
