The Imperial Vault of Heaven
1 min readNorth of the Circular Mound Altar is the Imperial Vaul of Heaven，which was originally built in 1530 and rebuilt 1752.Its structure is made from wood and brick with a blue iled roof that is top with a gided balItis 19.5 meters high and 15.6 meters in diameter.From a distance，the Impe-rial Voult of Heaven looks like a small version of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.
As you can see，the building does not have any horizontal beams as suppor.The entire bulding is supported by 8 pillars and a span work of bors，loaths and brackets，which is in complete conformity with the princi-ples of dynamics.The decorative painted appear fresh because they were retouched in 1974.
In the center of the Imperial Voult of Heaven stands the shrine where the tablet of God of Heaven was placed.There are four stone platforms one each side where the tablets of the emperor s eight ancestors were kept.
During each winter solstice，these tablets were placed in a small pavilion-like cage and removed to the Circular Mound for the Worshipping Heaven ceremony.After the ceremony，the tablets were returned to the stone plat-forms.
Two chambers located at the front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven con-tained different tablets used for worship.The left chamber contained tablets of the gods of basic elements including gold，wood，water，fire and earth.The right chamber contained tablets of gods of natural phenomena inclu-ding wind，rain，thunder，lightning and so on.
