One of the most iconic temples in the city, the One Pillar Pagoda was built during the reign of Emperor Ly Thai Tong, from 1028 to 1054. The Emperor was childless and dreamt that he was handed down a baby son by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara while seated on a lotus flower. Emperor Ly subsequently married a peasant girl who bore him a son. The Emperor constructed this temple in gratitude in the late 1040s. The French destroyed this temple in 1954 before withdrawing, but it was rebuilt again afterwards.