Wolfgang's photos with the keyword: Three Pagodas

The middle pagoda called Qianxun Pagoda is 69.13 meters high, is one of the highest pagodas of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), while the other lower two stand to the north and south sides of it. Qianxun Pagoda, now empty, previously could be climbed by ladder from the inside. However the ladder is now broken, and travelers now have no opportunity to climb up. The other two pagodas aren't straight due an earthquake (the photo shows them correct, its not a lens failure).

which leans to one side due to inadequate strength of foundation. (The building is lopsided, the photo is straight)

The most recent record of severe earthquake in the Dali area occurred in 1925. Only one in a hundred of the buildings in Dali survived, but the Three Pagodas were undamaged.

Their mother building was known as Chongsheng Monastery (pinyin Chong Sheng Si, also known as SanTa Si, Tianlong Si) and used to be the royal temple of the Kingdom of Dali and one of the largest Buddhist centers in southeast Asia. It was originally built at the same time as the first pagoda but was destroyed in a fire in the Qing Dynasty reign period. The temple was later rebuilt in 2005. It was recorded that Qianxun Pagoda had been split in an earthquake on May 6th, 1515 AD (Ming Dynasty). However, it miraculously recovered ten days later in an aftershock.

The Three Pagodas are well known for their resilience; they have endured several man-made and natural catastrophes over more than a thousand years.