The Pagode du bois de Vincennes is the seat of the founded by

Jean Sainteny Jean Sainteny or Jean Roger (29 May 1907, in Vésinet – 25 February 1978) was a French politician who was sent to Vietnam after the end of the Second World War in order to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces and to attempt to re-annex V ...

who was the manager of the institute. It is located in a former building of the exposition coloniale de 1931, designed by the architect

Louis-Hippolyte Boileau Louis-Hippolyte Boileau (; 1878–1948) was a French architect. Grandson of Louis-Auguste Boileau (1812–1896) and son of Louis-Charles Boileau (1837–1914, architect of the Hôtel Lutetia), Louis-Hippolyte studied at the École nationale supér ...

. On this 8 000 m² site on the edge of the lac Daumesnil are located two buildings of remarkable architecture. The most important one, the former house of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, was restored in 1977 and transformed in a pagoda as a place of worship. The second is the former house of

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

is slated for restoration by the City of Paris. It will contain a library for texts on the various Buddhist traditions. The Pagode de Vincennes is used by Buddhist schools of the Parisian region and has no religious leader. The pagoda is a place of common worship; it shelters the biggest

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

of Europe, covered with gold leaf and measuring, including its seat, more than 9 meters high. The Pagode hosts relics of the historical Buddha since 2008. A Tibetan buddhist temple named Kagyu-Dzong exists in front of the Pagode de Vincennes.

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The Pagode du bois de Vincennes, is located 40, route de ceinture du Lac-Daumesnil in the

12th arrondissement of Paris The 12th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le douzième'' ("the twelfth"). Situated on the right bank of the River Seine, it is ...

Gallery

File:Bois de Vincennes DSC03761.JPG, The buddhist temple of the Pagode de Vincennes on the edge of the lac Daumesnil

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Gallery

See also