Iron Pagoda

The Iron Pagoda (Chinese: 鐵塔) of Youguo Temple (佑國寺), Kaifeng City, Henan province, is a Buddhist Chinese pagoda built in 1049 during the Song Dynasty (960–1279) of China. The pagoda is so-named not because it is made of iron, but because its colour resembles that of iron. It is a brick pagoda tower built on the location of a previous wooden pagoda that had been burnt down by lightning fire in 1044. Along with the Liuhe, Lingxiao, Liaodi, Pizhi, and Beisi pagodas, it is seen as a masterpiece of the Song Dynasty architecture.

Read more about Iron Pagoda:  Architecture, History, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words iron and/or pagoda:

    Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.
    Eric Gill (1882–1940)

    One is sick at heart of this pagoda worship. It is like the beating of gongs in a Hindoo subterranean temple.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)