Long Dau Pagoda

In folk tradition, Long Dau Pagoda is also known by the familiar name Da Phuc Pagoda, after the village. The pagoda is part of the Thay Pagoda relic complex, at the foot of Long Dau Mountain - a mountain shaped like a dragon, regarded as the front screen (tien an) of Thay Pagoda beside the poetic Long Tri Lake.

Long Dau Pagoda is an ancient temple with a long history, founded during the reign of King Ly Nhan Tong (1072-1127), with ancient and unique architecture. The pagoda underwent major restoration in the Tran dynasty, in the second year of the Hung Long era (1294). In the 21st year of Chinh Hoa (1708), Lord Trinh Cuong and Consort Ngoc Lanh donated money and gold to the Three Jewels and built additional Patriarch's house, corridors, rear hall, and three-entrance gate. This made the pagoda a beautiful, spacious, and stately complex amid overlapping mountains. Afterwards, the pagoda was repaired many times.

However, during the resistance war against the French, the architectural structures of Long Dau Pagoda were almost completely destroyed; only the Patriarch's house largely retained its old architecture. In recent years, it has been restored and renovated as it is today.

The pagoda was built on large grounds, with many beautiful architectural works such as the front hall, upper hall, Patriarch's house, Mother's house, and auxiliary structures.

With a Buddhist architectural space that is both solemn and ancient, quiet yet close to everyday life, Long Dau Pagoda in Sai Son commune, Quoc Oai district is a combination of two architectural blocks for worshipping Buddha and worshipping saints in a floor plan of front hall (place of Buddha worship) and rear hall (place of saint worship). This is also a rare type of floor plan in ancient Vietnamese pagoda architecture, with quite unique architectural and sculptural art bearing the artistic architectural style of the 17th century.