Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet. It was named after Mount Potala, an important mountain in Buddhist traditions. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of all Dalai Lamas until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after an invasion and failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace has been converted into a museum by Chinese authorities.
The Palace buildings stand 13 stories high and contain over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues. These tower 117 meters (384 ft) above Marpo Ri, means "Red Hill", and more than 300 meters (1,000 ft) above the valley floor. Tradition says that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet."