It was the first in Japanese history to have been a planned city based on a square grid pattern modeled after the Chang'an, the capital of Tang dynasty China.

Construction work was carried out over a number of years, based on the different standards of grid-like grids discovered during excavations, and was halted by the emperor's death.

[2] Archaeological evidence indicates that construction of the corridor surrounding the palace was still ongoing even at the time the decision to move the capital to Heijō was made in 708, suggesting the possibility that Fujiwara-kyō was abandoned unfinished.

This waka poem, written by Empress Jitō, describes Fujiwara in the summer: 春すぎて夏来にけらし白妙の     衣ほすてふ天の香具山 haru sugite natsu kinikerashi shirotae nokoromo hosu chō Ama no KaguyamaSpring has passed, it seems, and now summer has arrived;For this, they say, is when robes of pure white are aired on heavenly Mount Kagu.

[3](Shin Kokin Wakashū 3:175; Hyakunin Isshu 2)However, the name "Fujiwara-kyō" itself was never used in the Nihon Shoki; during those times it was recorded as Aramashi-kyō (新益京).

However, with the discovery of the east-west Kyōgoku-ōji street in the 1990s, the complete layout to be 5.3 kilometers (10ri) square, or at least 25 km2, surpassing both Heian-kyō (23 km2) and Heijō-kyō (24 km2), and encompassed the site of the old Asuka-kyō to the south.

Suzaku-oji, the main street, ran north and south from Fujiwara Palace, dividing the city into east and west halves.

There is a theory that Suzaku-oji and Rajomon on the south side of the Asuka River were not developed in the capital due to lack of archaeological evidence and the presence of a number of large Buddhist temples in that area.

[6] In January 2007, the Japanese government included "Asuka-Fujiwara: Archaeological Sites of Japan's Ancient Capitals and Related Properties" on the tentative list, which is a prerequisite for World Heritage registration.