Ancient Tombs Museum

Underground museum with twenty-five excavated imperial tombs from the Han to Song dynasties

One of the most unusual museums in China, the Ancient Tombs Museum (洛阳古墓博物馆) preserves twenty-five real excavated tombs from the Han through Song dynasties in an underground complex north of the city. The tombs were found during construction in the 1980s and rather than relocating them, the decision was made to build the museum around their actual positions. Walking between the burial chambers gives a sense of scale and context that no display case can replicate.

The tombs span about 1,200 years of Luoyang's history as an imperial capital, and their murals — particularly those of the Han and Tang periods — show scenes of court life, hunting, and celestial mythology in vivid colour. The underground temperature is noticeably cool even in summer, which makes this a pleasant afternoon stop. The museum is in the northern suburbs; take a taxi or the city bus from the centre.

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A story
When a major highway was planned through the northern suburbs of Luoyang in the 1980s, excavations revealed so many ancient tombs in the path that archaeologists had to develop an entirely new solution: instead of reburying or relocating the tombs, they built a museum around them in situ. Twenty-five tombs were enclosed in a climate- controlled underground complex, and visitors now walk between real excavated burial chambers in the same positions where they were found.

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