A municipal source said Monday that the reconstruction on a land area of 9.4 hectares will be completed within three to four years at a cost of some 440 million yuan (about US$ 53 million).

First built in the imperial Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the nine-story pagoda which was 80 meters tall, took 20 years and cost 2.485 million taels of silver.

From the early Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the pagoda was spotted as an imposing landmark structure ofNanjing and dubbed as the "First Tower of China".

Moreover, historical records said, the pagoda, along with the Great Wall, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Turkey-based Sophia Mosque, Egypt-based Alexander Mausoleum and others invaluable relics of historical interest, were listed among the wonders of the world in the Middle Ages.

The pagoda was, however, ruined completely in the war between the Qing court and the rebellious Taiping forces in 1856.

In 1958, a wealth of glazed or ceramic tiles were unearthed in the vicinity of the pagoda site, which archeologists believed werethe building materials of the pagoda and stored underground in case the pagoda could ever be repaired.

Archeologists said that they have made a thorough investigationon the size, style and structure of the pagoda. Original crafts will be used to make sure the reproduced pagoda looks exactly the same.

(People's Daily April 22, 2003)