On the hill in the middle of Lhasa City, you can find the most interesting architectural structure of all Tibet, the Potala Palace. It is built on the top of the hill Marpo Ri and that is why it can be seen from almost everywhere in town. Two huge steps lead to the entrance of the palace. During the days of Songtsen Gampo, his palace was built at the same spot where the Potala Palace is now.
Nobody knows how the palace looked in
those days, but small parts can the former Palace still remain inside the
present Potala. During the life of the fifth Dalai Lama the palace was
drastically changed. The Potrang Karpo was built first. This part of the Palace
is also known as the White Palace. The work on the Red Palace was about half
way when the Dalai Lama died. The death of the Dalai Lama was kept secret and
the work on the Red Palace continued. Only after the work on the Red Palace was
finished did they pronounce the death of the fifth Dalai Lama. He was buried in
the red part of the Potala Palace. From that moment on, all Dalai Lamas lived
in the Potala Palace and were also buried there.
After the construction of the
Norbulingka summer palace the Dalai Lamas were living in the summer palace in
the summer and in the Potala palace in the winter. The 13th Dalai Lama
undertook a renovation on the Palace in the early 20th century . In 1959, the
Chinese shelled the palace but there was not much damage done. Also during the
cultural revolution, the Potala Palace was spared. 
The inside of the palace is not that
spectacular. You can find a number of chapels and the tombs of the Dalai Lamas
of the past. The building has 4 floors. The most spectacular thing is the Tomb
of the fifth Dalai Lama. It is covered with about 3700kg of gold. On its sides
you can find two more Dalai Lama's. The 10th and the 12th. Some time ago people
were not able to see much of the inside of the palace. Nowadays, people are
able to enter the palace, but that is very expensive. You pay more that 45
times the amount that locals pay for a visit. To take pictures is even more
expensive.