The First Tower in the World - Kaifeng Iron Tower

The Iron Tower is located in the northeast corner of Kaifeng city, built in 1049 AD, and has always been known as the 'First Tower in the World'. The tower is 55.88 meters high, with 13 layers in octagonal shape, and is the tallest, oldest, and best-preserved glazed brick tower in China. It is also known as the 'Kaibao Temple Tower' because it was once the site of Kaibao Temple. It is also called the 'Iron Tower' because it is made of brown glazed bricks that look like iron. The overall shape of the tower is graceful and upright, with bright and shiny glazed components. The tower body gradually decreases from bottom to top, forming a natural division, showing the strong contour features of the Song Dynasty Buddhist pagoda. The tower body uses many structural bricks, with grooves and eyes between the bricks, which are tightly fitted together, and there are as many as 28 shapes of bricks. The outer wall is decorated with more than 50 patterns such as flying sky, descending dragon, kirin, and music. Since its completion, the Iron Tower has survived countless wars, floods, earthquakes and other disasters, and still stands tall, with high historical, architectural, and artistic value. In 1961, the Iron Tower was announced as a key national cultural relic protection unit by the State Council.