and association with the city. It is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital. The temple was built in 1601 at the direction of Nguyễn Hoàng, the head of the Nguyễn Lords. According to the royal annals, Hoang was on a sightseeing trip and holiday to see the seas and mountains of the local area when he passed by the hill which is now the site of the Thiên Mụ Temple. He heard of a local legend, in which an old lady, known as Thiên Mụ (literally "fairy woman"), wearing a red shirt and blue trousers, sat at the site, rubbing her cheeks. She said that a lord would come to the hill and erect a temple to pray for the country' prosperity. According to the local legend, the lady vanished after making her prophecy. When Hoàng heard this, he ordered the construction of a temple at the site and it was called Thiên Mụ Tự. Thiên Mụ has been expanded many times over the years, and in 1710, the ruling lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu funded the casting of a giant bell, which weighs 3285 kg, and was regarded as one of the most prized cultural relics of its time in Vietnam. The bell is said to be audible 10 km away and has been the subject of many poems and songs, including one by Emperor Thiệu Trị of the Nguyễn dynasty who ruled in the 1840s. Emperor Thiệu Trị, erected the Từ Nhân Pagoda in 1844, which is now known as the Phước Duyên Pagoda. The brick pagoda stands 21 m and is of octagonal shape and has seven stories, each of which is dedicated to a different Buddha. The pagoda has stood there since, overlooking the Perfume River, and has become synonymous with the landscape of Huế and the Perfume River. Its impact is such that it has become the unofficial symbol of the city. Từ Đàm Temple Từ Đàm Temple was built and opened under the direction of Thiền master Thích Minh Hoằng, who was the 34th in the lineage of the Lâm Tế Zen lineage. In 1841, Vietnam had been unified in its modern state by the Nguyễn dynasty and Emperor Thiệu Trị ordered that the temple be renamed so that it did not conflict with his name. The temple was one of the three national pagodas in Huế during the Nguyễn dynasty