Iron Tower

Iron Tower Located in the Iron Tower Park, northeastern corner of Kaifeng City. The tower was first built in 982 (during the Song Dynasty), made of an entire timber frame, was kept in Kaibao Temple, so it's also known as "Kaibao Temple Tower". Later in 1049 A.D the first year of Huangyou of Northern Song Dynasty, the surface of the pagoda was covered with iron-colored glazed tiles, which made it look like an Iron Pagoda, hence its present name. The temple was renamed several times in the successive periods and was finally pulled down during the Qing Dynasty. In 1961, Iron Tower was designated by the State Council as the key antique unit under special protection. The octagonal-shaped pagoda has 13 floors with a height of 55.88 meters, the width of each side at the base is 4.16 meters, and it is decreasing from the base to the top levels. Although it was constructed of glazed bricks of different shapes and sizes, it looks very much like a huge wooden pillar, with carved patterns of Buddhas, flowers, human figures and legendary animals, all representing the highly developed workmanship of the Song Dynasty. The top of the pagoda affords a good view of the whole city of Kaifeng.

The Iron Tower is well known at home and abroad with its unique art of architecture, the design is fine and excellent, strong in structure, it withstands numerous attacks of earthquake, the great flood of 1642, which buried the base under several meters of silt, storms, and man-made damages since its construction and now it still firmly stands there magnificently.