Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is in Beijing, the capital of China.

It has round halls, big stone platforms and long walls. Pine trees grow all around.

The Temple of Heaven is a large group of buildings in Beijing, south of the Forbidden City. Two sets of walls surround it, and pine woods grow inside them.

UNESCO counts 92 old buildings with 600 rooms. The most important ones stand in a line from south to north: the Circular Mound Altar, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

UNESCO describes the Temple of Heaven as an axial arrangement: the open-air Circular Mound Altar to the south, the conically roofed Imperial Vault of Heaven just to its north, and, linked to them by a raised walkway, the circular, three-tiered Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests further north. The whole is enclosed by a double wall and old pine woods, and it holds 92 historic buildings with 600 rooms.

ICOMOS's 1998 evaluation gives the outer wall as 1,650 m north to south and 1,725 m east to west, and places the site 3.5 km southeast of Beijing's Zhengyang Gate.

The Circular Mound Altar is three round platforms of white stone, open to the sky.

A long, raised path joins it to the round hall.

The Circular Mound Altar is made of three round platforms of white marble, each smaller than the one below, with marble railings. ICOMOS counts 360 pillars in its railings, one for each day of the old Chinese lunar year.

Just north of it is the Imperial Vault of Heaven, a round building with blue tiles, painted inside and out. A raised brick walkway, 360 meters long, leads north to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

The Circular Mound Altar, entered through white marble Lingxing Gates, consists of three circular white marble platforms of decreasing diameter with marble balustrades; their 360 pillars stand, ICOMOS notes, for the 360 days of the ancient Chinese lunar year. In 1749 the altar was enlarged and its original blue-glazed tiles were replaced with white marble.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven, circular, roofed in blue glazed tiles and painted inside and out, stands to its north. An elevated brick path 360 m long joins the southern and northern sectors. To the west lies the Fasting Palace, a moated 4-hectare compound with a main hall, a sleeping palace and a two-story bell tower, where the emperor fasted before the ceremonies.

In the photo, the round hall has three dark blue roofs and a gold-colored ball on top.

Lots of people are walking up the white stone steps.

The photo, taken in March 2016, shows the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. You can see its three round roofs, a gold-colored ball on top, a blue name board with a gold frame, and bands of blue and green painted decoration. Below are red pillars, lattice panels and doorways, and white marble terraces with carved railings and stairs full of visitors.

The temple has been a public park since 1918. ICOMOS noted in 1998 that its old pine woods were carefully looked after.

The photo (23 March 2016) shows the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests above its marble terraces: three tiers of round, dark blue tiled roofs under a gilded-looking ball finial, a framed blue name board below the top roof, painted bands of blue and green on the beams, red pillars, lattice panels and open doorways, and white marble balustrades and stairways crowded with visitors.

The precinct has been protected at national level since 4 March 1961, when the State Council placed it in the first group of protected monuments. ICOMOS noted in 1998 that its ancient pine forest was carefully maintained, with new plantings to complete it, and UNESCO says the main buildings are all integrally preserved.