Than Quang Temple Bell Tower

VIETNAM, Thai Binh, Vu Thu

Than Quang means Divine Light. The temple was founded in the 17th century and was rebuilt in 1930 by Nguyen Quyen. It is listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site.
The three-story wooden tower has a hip-and-gable roof and is 11 m high. The structure is symmetrical and well-proportioned, with the eaves at each level supported by simple bracket sets. The roof has common red tiles, which is a feature of temple roofs in Vietnam. The columns are unadorned. There are balustrades built around the first and second stories with elaborately carved decorations under the balustrade on the second story. Usually temples have single load bearing columns but in this case there are sets of three columns at each corner, which is a special characteristic of Vietnamese architecture. A stone gong is housed within the first story of the tower, while the second and third stories each contain large bells, which were cast in 1686 and 1796 respectively.