Hanoi’s oldest pagoda named among the world’s most beautiful

Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/hachi8

Tran Quoc, nearly 1,500 years old, sits on a peaceful peninsula on the West Lake.

Hanoi’s Tran Quoc Pagoda, one of the icons of the capital city, has been named one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in the world.

The U.K. news website Daily Mail recently ranked the temple of nearly 1,500 years old among 16 “most mesmerizing pagodas” in the world.

Tran Quoc, located on a small peninsula on the east side of the West Lake, is considered the oldest in Hanoi. It was completed in the year 545 on the shores of the Red River and was moved to the current site in the 1600s due to erosion.

In October, travel site Thrillist also named the pagoda among a list of 11 “stunningly gorgeous” pagoda temples around the world.

The Daily Mail list recommends many pagodas in the world’s Buddhist centers Myanmar and Thailand, as well as some in Japan, Mongolia and South Korea.

Tran Quoc Pagoda. Photo by VnExpress/hachi8

A Bodhi tree at Tran Quoc Pagoda. Photo by VnExpress/Ha Thanh

Photo by VnExpress/hachi8

Photo by VnExpress/hachi8