松山城二之丸史跡庭園

The Matsuyama Castle Ninomaru Historic Garden is a facility that recreates, using period-appropriate methods, the former domain lord’s residence that Tadachika Gamo (the lord after Yoshiaki Kato, who built Matsuyama Castle) completed in the Ninomaru in 1627. The garden opened in 1992. From Matsuyama Castle’s main keep, it takes about 20 minutes on foot downhill to reach it. The garden is broadly divided into the “”Omote-Goten Ruins,”” where the lord conducted official business, and the “”Oku-Goten Ruins,”” where the lord’s family lived. In the northern “”Omote-Goten Ruins,”” the historical layout is expressed using citrus trees and flowers, while in the southwestern “”Oku-Goten Ruins,”” the layout is expressed using flowing water features. Within the grounds is a large well (18 m east–west, 13 m north–south, 9 m deep) once used for firefighting and daily water needs. During archaeological work prior to development, a coin was discovered engraved with the names of Russian prisoners of war and Japanese nurses from the Russo-Japanese War era. Along with the garden’s popularity as a pre-wedding photo location, this helped it gain recognition in 2013 as a “”Lovers’ Sanctuary.”