Dau Pagoda

Location: Situated in Dau Village, Thanh Khuong Commune, Thuan Thanh District, Bac Ninh Province.
Characteristics: Built in the 3rd century, Dau Pagoda is the oldest pagoda in Vietnam.
In the beginning, the pagoda was a Buddhist center well known throughout the country and abroad. At the end of the 4th century, Ch’an Master Vinitaruci gave lectures and the first Vietnamese Buddhist doctrine was produced there. Mac Dinh Chi, a mandarin under the Tran Dynasty, enlarged the pagoda in the 14th century and the pagoda underwent several renovations during the following centuries. In the pagoda’s yard, there is a three - storey tower called Hoa Phong. In the tower, there is a large bell produced in 1793, a big bronze gong produced during the 18th year of the reign of Minh Menh (1817) and statues of Phap Van, Kim Dong, and Ngoc Nu, followers of the Goddess of Mercy according to Buddhist legends.