Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang

A view on the grottoes

The fabulous Longmen Grottoes (Dragon’s Gate Grottoes), or Longmen Caves, are located 12 km south of Luoyang. The construction of the grottoes themselves began in AD 493.

The grottoes are densely dotted along the two mountains Xiangshan and Longmenshan. The Yi River flows between them and for this reason the area is used to be called Yique (The Gate of the Yi River).

The grottoes depict overwhelmingly Buddhist subjects, and are at the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Along with Mogao and Yungang, the Longmen Grottoes are one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites in China.