Gyantse
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Gyantse (rGyal rtse) also spelled Gyangtse; Wylie: rgyal rtse; Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རྩེ་) is the third largest town in Tibet. It is located in Gyangzê County, Shigatse Prefecture. It is 3,977 metres (13,050 feet) above sea level, and is located on the Friendship Highway, which connects Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa, Tibet.
Gyantse is the fourth largest city in Tibet (after Lhasa, Sigatse and Chamdo). It is often referred to as the "Hero City" because during the British Younghusband expedition of 1904, the 500 soldiers of the Gyantse fort resisted in a siege of several weeks, before they were overcome by the superior equipment of the British.
Gyantse is notable for the Kumbum of the Palcho Monastery. Commissioned in 1440, this religious structure contains 108 chapels in its four floors, and is illustrated with over 10,000 murals, the last of its type in Tibet. Many of the new clay statues are of less artistry than the destroyed originals - but they are still spectacular.
