Gyantse

Gyantse is a market town in the Gyantse County of Tibet, historically one of the most important trading centres on the route between Lhasa and the Indian subcontinent. The Pelkor Chode Monastery complex contains the Kumbum stupa (Tashi Gomang), a nine-storey structure of 1427 containing 77 chapels arrayed on four tiers, considered a unique architectural synthesis of Nepali, Chinese, and Tibetan Buddhist styles. Above the monastery rises the Gyantse Dzong, a fortress whose walls trace the ridgeline of a prominent rock outcrop, providing elevated views of the town and surrounding farmland.