Binh Son Tower is an 11-story terra cotta pagoda at the Vinh Khanh Temple in Vinh Phuc province, about 150km from Hanoi city’s center. It was built under the Tran Dynasty and said to consist of 15 storeys in its original form. The pagoda is one of the ten outstanding old architectural works along with notable ones such as the One-Pillar Pagoda. At 16.5 metres, it is the highest Tran Dynasty terra cotta pagoda surviving until today.
Tower is a part of the important art of pagoda. Together with pagoda, tower is a place for Buddhist worship in commeration and laying the bronze mortal remainings. The storeys of the Tower represent the step of leading to the religious life then to Nirvana of the bronze.
This 16m tower has 11 floors, each with a curved roof. The tower is empty on the inside and located on a square platform.
Binh Son tower was built with solid red bricks and its foundations were built with Vo bricks. The surface of the fine Vo bricks is dark and has flower imprints. These features create a harmonious building style, suitable to different architectural trends.
The tower was restored in 1972 after a landslide caused the tower to sink to one side. Although the tower’s foundations were raised 4m higher than they were before the landslide, all the architectural attributes of the tower were kept intact.
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