Temple that has housed Japan’s ‘eternal flame’ for 1,200 years is destroyed by fire

A temple that housed Japan‘s ‘eternal flame’ for more than 1,200 years has been destroyed by a fire.

The devastating blaze gutted part of Daishoin Temple on Miyajima Island in the city of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Wednesday. 

The fire ripped through the historic Reikado Hall, which was home to a sacred flame believed to have burned continuously for more than 1,200 years.

Known as the ‘unquenchable fire’, the flame was said to have originally been lit by a Buddhist monk in the year 806.

Reikado Hall, atop Mount Misen on Miyajima, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan, before the fire

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