Temple of Heaven
| Temple of Heaven | |
|---|---|
Temple of Heaven Imperial Vault of Heaven Circular Mound Altar Chengzhen Gate Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the largest building in the Temple of Heaven | |
| Location | Dongcheng, Beijing, China |
| Coordinates | 39°52′56″N 116°24′24″E / 39.8822°N 116.4066°E |
| Area | 2.73 km2 (1.05 sq mi) |
| Built | 1406–1420 (Ming dynasty) |
| Website | tiantanpark.com |
| Official name | Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii |
| Designated | 1998 (22nd session) |
| Reference no. | 881 |
| Region | Asia-Pacific |
Location of Temple of Heaven in Beijing Temple of Heaven (China) | |
| Temple of Heaven | |||||||||||||||||||
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"Temple of Heaven" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 天坛 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 天壇 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Altar of Heaven" | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Temple of Heaven (simplified Chinese: 天坛; traditional Chinese: 天壇; pinyin: Tiāntán) is a complex of imperial religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."[1]
- ^ "Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. 1998-12-02. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2016-10-31.