The Potala Palace rises on Marpo Ri hill in Lhasa, at about 12,100 feet (3,700 m). It traces its origins to an earlier palace attributed to Songtsen Gampo, traditionally dated to 637, and construction of the present palace began in 1645 under the Fifth Dalai Lama. It is built in the dzong style, with sloping stone walls averaging 10 feet (3 m) thick.
The palace measures 1,312 feet (400 m) from east to west and 1,148 feet (350 m) from north to south, and rises 13 stories. It holds more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and some 200,000 statues. The outside took three years to build, and the interior took 45. The Dalai Lama and his government moved into the White Palace in 1649, and the Red Palace was added between 1690 and 1694.
It served as the Dalai Lamas' winter residence until 1959. UNESCO listed it in 1994, with extensions in 2000 and 2001. Daily visitor numbers are limited.
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