Qualla: Iron Pagoda https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:38 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/1/q/iron-pagoda-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Iron Pagoda https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda Iron Pagoda: Introduction https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda/ Photo credit kevinmcgill from Den Bosch, Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0. The name is a trick of the eye. Kaifeng's Iron Pagoda contains no iron. Its bricks are faced with glazed tiles of such a deep, dark brown that from a distance the entire structure appears to be cast metal, and the name stuck. Built in 1049 during the Northern Song dynasty, the pagoda has stood for nearly a thousand years on the spot where a magnificent wooden predecessor, designed by the celebrated architect Yu Hao, burned to the ground after a lightning strike in 1044. The replacement was built to last, and it has -- through floods, earthquakes, wars, and the slow grind of centuries that has toppled almost everything else from Kaifeng's imperial age.

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Image: kevinmcgill from Den Bosch, Netherlands | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/1/q/iron-pagoda-wp/ww1q-iron-pagoda-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Iron Pagoda: A Phoenix from Ashes https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda/ Photo credit Windmemories, CC BY-SA 4.0. Yu Hao's original wooden pagoda, built as part of Youguo Temple between 965 and 995 CE, was considered one of the great architectural marvels of its time. Its destruction by lightning fire in 1044 was a significant cultural loss for the Song capital. The brick replacement, comple...

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Image: Windmemories | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/1/q/iron-pagoda-wp/ww1q-iron-pagoda-a-phoenix-from-ashes.mp3 0:06 2 full Iron Pagoda: Tile by Tile https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda/ Photo credit Gisling, CC BY-SA 3.0. The pagoda's distinctive appearance comes from its cladding -- thousands of individually molded and glazed tiles covering the brick structure beneath. Each tile was fired to produce the iron-dark brown that gives the tower its misleading name. The craftsmanship required to produc...

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Image: Gisling | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/1/q/iron-pagoda-wp/ww1q-iron-pagoda-tile-by-tile.mp3 0:06 3 full Iron Pagoda: Still Standing in a Drowned City https://qualla.com/iron-pagoda/ Photo credit Windmemories, CC BY-SA 4.0. Kaifeng sits on one of the most flood-prone stretches of the Yellow River. Over the centuries, the river has repeatedly buried the city under layers of silt, raising the ground level so dramatically that entire previous versions of Kaifeng lie meters below the modern surface. The...

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Image: Windmemories | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/1/q/iron-pagoda-wp/ww1q-iron-pagoda-still-standing-in-a-drowned-city.mp3 0:06 4 full