5/5 Khôi P. 9 months ago on Google • 138 reviews
Nan
Myint
Tower
(1820s)
The
Nan
Myint
Tower
is
the
only
surviving
structure
of
the
royal
palace
of
King
Bagyidaw
(r.
1819-37)
at
Inwa
(Ava),
probably
built
starting
in
1821
when
the
capital
was
moved
here
from
Amarpura
is
nearby.
In
its
heyday
in
the
1830s,
the
palace
occupied
the
middle
of
a
rectangular
island
measuring
1.0
by
1.4
km,
bounded
on
the
south
and
west
by
artificial
moats,
on
the
north
by
the
Irrawaddy
River
and
on
the
east
by
the
Myitnge
River
(a
major
tributary
of
the
Irrawaddy
joins
it
at
this
location).
Protected
by
rivers,
moats,
a
siege
wall
and
sturdy
gates,
the
palace
probably
had
an
air
of
impregnability.
It
is
not.
The
end,
when
it
came,
came
not
from
foreign
invaders
but
from
nature's
fury
-
a
series
of
massive
earthquakes
struck
the
area
starting
on
22
January
1839,
<>,
eventually
razed
the
palace
beyond
this
tower,
which
nonetheless
saw
its
upper
part
fall
to
the
ground.
Many
of
the
palace's
wooden
buildings
were
probably
destroyed
by
fire
in
the
chaos
immediately
following
the
earthquake,
and
little
evidence
of
these
structures
survives
today.
The
top
of
the
tower
was
later
rebuilt,
with
a
small
but
beautifully
carved
pyathat-style
roof.
With
a
height
of
30
meters,
the
tower
leans
slightly
to
the
east,
and
the
asymmetrical
shape
of
the
watchtower's
windows
suggests
that
it
may
have
begun
to
lean
even
before
the
earthquake.
Although
visitors
could
previously
reach
the
top,
the
stairs
are
now
closed
to
better
preserve
the
monument
for
future
generations.
