Fortifications of Xi'an

The fortifications of Xi'an in Shaanxi, also known as the Xi'an City Wall (Chinese: 西安城牆, Xī'ān Chéngqiáng), represent one of the oldest, largest, and best preserved Chinese city walls. It was built under the rule of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty to protect the city from the Northern Yuan and potential unrest. It exhibits the "complete features of the rampart architecture of feudal society". It has been refurbished many times since it was first built in the 14th century with the most important three reconstructions occurring in the late 1500s, in the late 1700s, and in 1983. The wall encloses an area of about 14 square kilometres (5.4 mi2).

The Xi'an City Wall is on the tentative List of World Heritage Sites under the title "City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties". Since 2008, it is also on the list of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China. Since March 1961, the Xi'an City Wall is a heritage National Historical and Cultural Unit.

Text adapted from “Fortifications of Xi'an” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fortifications of Xi'an ranks #552 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #17 of the 119 mapped in China. Founded c. 1350, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 604 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 9,734 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how China compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗