“Potala Palace, the highest palace in the world, is still necessary for those who have never been to see it, for those who have no chance to travel, or for those who have no chance to learn from the text. The Potala Palace is a treasure house of religion, history and culture.”This is the evaluation by Mr Niu in gmtlight.
The Potala Palace (Tibetan Language: Tiao Tiao) is situated in Maburi Mountain, northwest of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is the world's highest elevation magnificent building with palaces, castles and temples in one. It is also the largest and most complete ancient castle complex in Tibet.
The Potala Palace is built on the hill and the buildings are overlapping. It is an outstanding representative of the Tibetan ancient architecture. The essence of the ancient Chinese architecture is the landscape pattern of fifth sets of banknotes on the back of the 50 yuan. The main building is divided into two parts: the White House and the Red Palace. The palace is more than 200 meters high with 13 floors in appearance and 9 floors in interior. In front of the Potala Palace is the Potala Palace Square, which is the highest city square in the world.
The Potala Palace is the dwelling place of the winter palace of the Dalai Lama, as well as the place where important religious and political ceremonies are held. It is also the place where the spiritual pagoda of the Dalai Lama is worshipped.
The Potala Palace is a holy place of Tibetan Buddhism, where numerous pilgrims and tourists come every year. In March 1961, the State Council ranked it as the first batch of key national cultural relics protection units; in December 1994, UNESCO ranked it as a world cultural heritage; in January 2013, the National Tourism Administration ranked it as a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction. From November 1, 2018 to March 15, 2019, the Potala Palace will be visited free of charge.
The East and west sides of the main building of the Potala Palace extend downwards, and connect with the tall Palace walls. The palace wall is 6 metres high.
It is 4.4 meters wide at the bottom and 2.8 meters wide at the top. It is built with rammed earth and enclosed with masonry. On the east, South and west sides of the wall there is a three-storey gate building, and on the southeast and northwest corner there is also a corner building. The palace wall encloses the entire area of the Potala Palace.
The Piedmont part of the palace wall is called "Snow City", which distributes offices of the former Tibetan government, such as courts, schools of classics and Tibetan army headquarters. In addition, there are workshops, stables, water supply, warehouses, prisons and other palace auxiliary facilities are also located here.
The back part of the palace wall is called linka. It is mainly a group of garden buildings with Dragon King's Pool as the center. It is the back garden of the Potala Palace. When the fifth Dalai Lama rebuilt the Potala Palace, he took soil and formed a deep pool. Later, the sixth Dalai Lama built a three-story octagonal glazed Pavilion in the center of the lake for the Dragon King's statue, so it was called the Dragon King's Pool.
On the right side of Red Hill is Medicine King Mountain, on which there is a Tibetan Medical College built in the 17th century.
The White House is surrounded by the fortified castles of Xiamen, Jiebu, Yujing and Danma, which were rebuilt in the form of early palace castles during the Dalai Lama V period.
Potala Palace, is really worthy to have a look.
布达拉宫~世界上海拔最高的宫殿，没有去过的人还是有必要去看一看，没有机会去旅游的人，还是有必要从文字中了解一下。布达拉宫是宗教和历史文化的宝库。
布达拉宫（藏文：པོ་ཏ་ལ），坐落于中国西藏自治区的首府拉萨市区西北玛布日山上，是世界上海拔最高，集宫殿、城堡和寺院于一体的宏伟建筑，也是西藏最庞大、最完整的古代宫堡建筑群。
布达拉宫依山垒砌，群楼重叠，是藏式古建筑的杰出代表，中华民族古建筑的精华之作，是第五套人民币50元纸币背面的风景图案 。主体建筑分为白宫和红宫两部分。宫殿高200余米，外观13层，内为9层。布达拉宫前辟有布达拉宫广场，是世界上海拔最高的城市广场。
布达拉宫为历代达赖喇嘛冬宫居所，以及重大宗教和政治仪式举办地，也是供奉历世达赖喇嘛灵塔之地。
布达拉宫是藏传佛教的圣地，每年至此的朝圣者及旅游观光客不计其数。1961年3月，国务院列其为首批全国重点文物保护单位；1994年12月，联合国教科文组织列其为世界文化遗产；2013年1月，国家旅游局又列其为国家AAAAA级旅游景区。2018年11月1日起至2019年3月15日，布达拉宫实行免费参观。
布达拉宫主体建筑的东西两侧分别向下延伸，与高大的宫墙相接。宫墙高6米
，底宽4.4米，顶宽2.8米，用夯土砌筑，外包砖石。墙的东、南、西侧各有一座三层的门楼，在东南和西北角还各有一座角楼。宫墙所包围的范围全都属于布达拉宫。
宫墙内的山前部分叫作“雪城”，分布着原西藏政府噶厦的办事机构，如法院、印经院、藏军司令部等。此外还有作坊、马厩、供水处、仓库、监狱等宫廷辅助设施也都设在这里。
宫墙内的山后部分称做“林卡”，主要是一组以龙王潭为中心的园林建筑，是布达拉宫的后花园。五世达赖重建布达拉宫时在此取土，形成深潭。后来六世达赖在湖心建造了三层八角形的琉璃亭，内供龙王像，故此称为龙王潭。
红山的右侧有一座药王山，山上有17世纪建造的一座藏医学院。
白宫的周围是五世达赖时期仿早期宫堡形式重建的厦经却、结布却、宇经却、丹玛却等坚固森严的圆堡建筑。
