Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda | |
Interactive map of Giant Wild Goose Pagoda | |
| Official name | R06–CN Great Wild Goose Pagoda |
| Location | Xi'an, Yanta District, Shaanxi, China |
| Part of | Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor |
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iii), (v), (vi) |
| Reference | 1442 |
| Inscription | 2014 (38th Session) |
| Coordinates | 34°13′11″N 108°57′34″E / 34.219842°N 108.959354°E |
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda Location of Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in China | |
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| Chinese | 大雁塔 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Greater Swan Goose Pagoda (as opposed to the Lesser Wild Goose Pagoda) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese: 大雁塔, Dàyàn tǎ) is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built c. AD 652 during the Tang dynasty, when Xi'an (then known as Chang'an) was the imperial capital. The pagoda originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of the empress Wu Zetian. Its current exterior brick façade was added during the Ming dynasty.
One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of Gautama Buddha that were brought to China from India by the 7th-century Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator Xuanzang. Today, the interior walls of the pagoda feature engraved statues of Buddha by the renowned 7th-century artist Yan Liben.
This pagoda was added to the World Heritage List, along with many other sites along the Silk Road, as part of the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" site in 2014.