Zhol Village

The buildings within the walls once included the residences of lay and religious dignitaries as well as the government offices, the Lhasa city's administration, the magistrates' court, the city prison, the bureau of revenue, the mint or treasure hall, the Western and Eastern printing houses, the stables, the dairies and the granary.

A number of buildings that were not deemed part of the monument at the time were demolished in the inner Shol while the additions comprising the outer Zhol were razed.

Plans were made to convert the area into an Exhibition Complex of Tibetan Folk Arts and accommodate only those activities which were compatible with the functioning of the Potala Palace.

[1] In the restored tavern, which was a favorite haunt of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, visitors can witness the preparation, distillation, transportation and consumption of chang, the barley beer.

One is the doring chima ("outer stone pillar"), which is located outside the southern entrance of the village (on the far side of Beijing Road).

The Potala in 2008 with the towers and walls of Zhol beneath but without the outer Zhol, razed in 1995.
Map of Lhassa by Nikita Bichurin (first half of the 19th century). The village of Zhol with its walls and towers can be seen in the lower left corner.
Layout of the Potala palace and the inner Zhol village.
The inner pillar on the northern border of the village beneath the Potala stairs.
The view from the Potala. The outer pillar stands in a small enclosure on the far side of Beijing Road.