Atlas of China
Po Pagoda 繁塔Pó Tǎ
National heritage site · Kaifeng, Henan
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Kaifeng
- Region
- Henan
- Type
- Heritage
- Listed as
- National heritage site
About Po Pagoda
The oldest standing building in Kaifeng, a Northern Song brick pagoda begun in the 970s for Tianqing Temple on the Fan Terrace beside Yuwangtai and finished around 990 after some twenty years of work. Only three massive storeys remain below a small seven-tier pagoda added on top in the early Qing, giving it a squat, bell-like outline; its outer walls are set with dozens of kinds of moulded Buddha bricks, and sutras and donors' names are carved inside. Tradition says the upper storeys were pulled down in the early Ming, though one recent study argues the present shape is close to the original.
How to get to Po Pagoda
In Yuwangtai District in the south-east of Kaifeng, about 2.5 km south-east of the Zhouqiao site by taxi, next to Yuwangtai Park.
Nearby
- Iron Pagoda 开封铁塔 under 10 km
A 56-metre glazed-brick pagoda of 1049 that has outlasted floods and earthquakes
Also within 20 km: Kaifeng Parachute Tower 开封伞塔 (under 10 km), Daxiangguo Temple 大相国寺 (under 10 km), Site of Dongjing, the Northern Song Capital 北宋东京城遗址 (under 10 km), Dongda Mosque, Kaifeng 开封东大寺 (under 10 km), Kaifeng Prefecture Office (Kaifeng Fu) 开封府 (under 10 km), Yanqing Temple (Jade Emperor Pavilion) 延庆观 (under 10 km).
On the map
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