Wild Goose Pagoda

大雁塔 Dàyàn Tǎ

The Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔 Dàyàn Tǎ, is a large Buddhist pagoda with seven stories located in the southern part of Xi'an. It is an architectural symbol of the city of Xi'an. It was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty by the famous Buddhist monk Xuanzang 玄奘 Xuán zàng to preserve Buddhist scriptures. It originally had five stories and was 52 meters high. The construction did not hold and collapsed a few decades later. Empress Wu Zetian 武则天 Wǔ Zétiān had it rebuilt in 704, adding 5 more stories. In 1556, a violent earthquake severely damaged the structure and reduced it to 7 stories, its current size. However, the pagoda leans heavily to the west. During the Ming Dynasty 明 Míng and in 1964, the Wild Goose Pagoda was actively restored. Its current height is 64 meters, and from the top, one can observe the current city of Xi'an.