ものの受身
Passive with an inanimate subject (この寺は…建てられた)machine translation
FormationInanimate subject は/が + (creator によって) + verb in passive form
When the subject is an object, a building, a work of art — something inanimate — the passive is used to introduce facts objectively, without needing to say who did it: このお寺は四百年前に建てられました (this temple was built four hundred years ago). This is a very common way of speaking in writing, guidebooks, and news reports.
If you want to name the creator — an author, an inventor — use によって instead of に: この絵はピカソによって描かれました. For general facts, the doer is usually omitted entirely: 日本では漢字とひらがなが使われています (in Japan, kanji and hiragana are used).
Unlike the adversity passive in the previous lesson, this form is completely neutral — nobody is suffering; it's simply a way of making the object the topic of the sentence.
Examples
このお寺は四百年前に建てられました。
This temple was built four hundred years ago.
この本は多くの国で読まれています。
This book is read in many countries.
この絵はピカソによって描かれました。
This painting was painted by Picasso.