Mutianyu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Part of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

Mutianyu ( Chinese  慕田峪 , Pinyin Mùtiányù ) is a section of the Great Wall of China in the Huairou district 70 km northeast of Beijing . The wall section is connected to the west with the Juyongguan section and the Gubeikou gate in the east. One of the best-preserved sections of the Great Wall, Mutianyu served as the capital's northern defensive wall and the imperial tombs .

With construction beginning in the mid-6th century during the Northern Qi Dynasty , the Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling section. In the Ming Dynasty , General Xu Da began building today's wall on the foundations of the wall from the Northern Qi Dynasty. In 1404 a transition was built into the wall. In 1569 the wall was rebuilt and most of the parts have been preserved to this day.

The Mutianyu section stands out among the sections of the Great Wall because of its large scale and quality of construction. Constructed primarily of granite , the wall is seven to eight meters high and four to five meters wide at the top of the wall. A special feature of the 2,250-meter-long section are the 22 watchtowers. The section is studded with battlements on both sides so that the defenders could shoot on both sides. The gatehouse by the passage consists of three watchtowers, one large in the middle and two smaller ones on either side. The towers stand on a terrace and are interconnected inside.

The section of the wall is open to visitors, 2 cable cars facilitate the ascent. As a tourist attraction, a descent with sledges on wheels has been set up that descends from the wall on a curved metal track, comparable to a summer toboggan run .

Near the wall section is the village of the same name, which has entered into a partnership with Shelburne Falls in the US state of Massachusetts . In the village, the American James H. Spear, together with various builders, has invested around 15 million US dollars in converting more than 30 farmhouses, an old glass brick factory and a former village school into weekend accommodation and restaurants.

Web links

Commons : The Great Wall of China at Mutianyu  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Living in the shadow of the Great Wall in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung of October 16, 2011, pages V11 and V13

Coordinates: 40 ° 26 ′ 16.9 ″  N , 116 ° 33 ′ 42.8 ″  E