Beginning with Shirakawa Kitadono, numerous palaces as well as residences for female nobles were built in the area during the period of cloistered rule and, like Toba in southern Kyoto, these temples flourished as centers of cloistered governance.
院政期には白河北殿を初めとする院や女院の御所が立ち並び、洛南の鳥羽と共に院政の中枢部として多いに栄えた。