Lisipéh Terraces

The Lisipéh Terraces take their name from Lisipéh hill, a rocky outcropping that rises steeply out of the narrow river valley upon which the centre of Sensuka is built. A century ago, owing to its forbidding topography, the hill was still largely uninhabited. The area thus constituted an untamed wilderness in the middle of the city that was much in favour with clandestine couples –both of lovers and of duellists. It was the Empress Kadoka who, partly with an eye to curtailing these sorts of activities, ordered the hill transformed into a vast public park, conceived as a series of concentric terraces rising up the slopes of the hilltop.

Where Lisipéh was once the destination of those wishing to escape from prying eyes, it has now become very much a place to see and be seen. On Sundays especially, its elegantly manicured terraces and walkways are thronged with Sensukans from all walks of life (Except those really undesirable walks of life as are kept out by the armed guards at the park entrances). Monumental marble staircases lead from one terrace level to the next. The statues of Emperors, Empresses and other notable Sensukans adorn the balustrades of the highest terrace, where they can be seen –if not, alas, see- for centuries to come.

(click on image to enlarge)