Tsurphu Monastery

Tsurphu Monastery  is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery which served as the traditional seat of the Karmapa. It is located in Gurum town  of Doilungdêqên County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, 70 km from Lhasa. The monastery is about 14,000 feet (4,300 m) above sea level. It was built in the middle of the valley facing south with high mountains surrounding the monastery complex.

Tsurphu is a 300-square-meter (3,200 sq ft) complex with walls up to 4 meters (13 ft) thick. The monastery or "gompa", the traditional seat of the Karmapa lamas, is about 28 km up the Dowo Lung Valley, on the north side of the river. The original walls of the main building were up to 4 meters thick and 300 meters square (area 90,000 square meters or 970,000 square feet). The monks' residences were on the eastern side.