Palace · Lhasa, China
Potala Palace
Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang po ta la; simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫; traditional Chinese: 布達拉宮; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Built 637.
Photo: Lhasa Government via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized for display.
Landmark facts
| Location | Lhasa, China |
|---|---|
| Type | Palace |
| Built | 637 |
| Height | Height: 117 m |
| Coordinates | 29.6578° N, 91.1169° E |
Every fact above is taken from the sources listed below; anything no source states is left blank rather than guessed.
What Potala Palace is known for
Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang po ta la; simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫; traditional Chinese: 布達拉宮; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
About Potala Palace
Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang po ta la; simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫; traditional Chinese: 布達拉宮; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formerly the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas, and from 1649 until 1959 served as the Dalai Lamas' residence. The palace complex became a museum following the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.
History
The Dalai Lama inhabited an estate at Drepung Monastery known as Ganden Podrang. During 1621 Lhasa was made the jurisdiction of Ganden Podrang by Tsang. During the third month of 1642 Gushri Khan Dhamma King, Holder of the Faith, had taken from the Sde-srid Tsang-pa regime of the Garma Gagyu Sect (Tsang) by military forces the places in Tibet, which was the Land of Wooden Doors, held by that governship; and then offered the thirteen parts of Tibet, which is the whole, to the Dalai Lama.
Planning a visit? Visit the official Potala Palace website — the official site has the current visiting information.
How to get there
| Nearest town | Lhasa |
|---|---|
| Nearest airport | Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) |
| Distance from the airport | 28.4 miles (straight line) |
Nearest major airport by straight-line distance from the landmark’s coordinates; road distance will be longer.
Airports near this landmark
The airports a visitor would actually fly into, nearest first — each link opens its profile on our sister site AirportProfiles.
- Lhasa Gonggar International Airport (LXA) · Shannan (Gonggar), China · 27.7 miles away
- Xigaze Peace Airport / Shigatse Air Base (RKZ) · Xigazê (Samzhubzê), China · 111.3 miles away
Landmarks nearby
The closest landmarks in this library, by straight-line distance.
More landmarks in China
More palaces
Frequently asked questions
What is Potala Palace?
Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang po ta la; simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫; traditional Chinese: 布達拉宮; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
Where is Potala Palace located?
Potala Palace is in Lhasa, China. Its coordinates are 29.6578° N, 91.1169° E.
How do I get to Potala Palace?
The nearest town is Lhasa, and the nearest airport is Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA), about 28.4 miles away (straight line).
When was Potala Palace built?
Potala Palace was built 637.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potala_Palace — Wikipedia article — overview, history and core facts (CC BY-SA).
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q71229 — Wikidata — built year, architect, height/size, visitors, official website (CC0).
- https://www.potalapalace.cn/ — Official website of the landmark / managing body.
- https://github.com/jbrooksuk/JSON-Airports — Nearest major airport computed from landmark and airport coordinates (haversine); airport list: jbrooksuk/JSON-Airports.
Page last updated 13 November 2026.