The Potala Palace is 410,000 square meters in size, and 360 meters in length (west-east)and 270 meters in width (north-south). It features a combination of stone-and-wood Tibetan watchtowers and Han Chinese palaces with traditional beams and pillars, golden roofs and sunk panels. Courtyards and winding corridors were arranged to suit the location. While the major part of the palace complex is highlighted, subordinate architectural groups form a jagged, interlocking pattern providing more space than one would expect, an achievement recognized in the history of architecture.

In the seventh century, King Songtsan Gambo of the Tubo Dynasty had the princesses of Nepal and Tang emperor as his concubines. To mark the marriage, he built the 999-room palace which covers an area of 410,000 square meters and has a floor space of 130,000 square meters.

The complex is divided into two sections, the Red Palace and the White Palace for the color of their walls. The former is for religious use while the latter served as the living quarters for succeeding Dalai Lamas and was a place for them to handle political affairs. The Red Palace houses eight funerary stupas of Dalai Lamas coy crud in sheets of gold. The 13-story main building is 115.703 meters high. Five of the palaces have gilded bronze tiles and are considered holy palaces on highland.

The White Palace built in 1645-1653. This part fans out from the original Hall of the Goddess of Mercy towards the east and west, encompassing groups of monastic halls with white walls-hence the name the White Palace. The White Palace has seven storys and consists of offices, dormitories, a Buddhist official seminary and a printing house.

The Red Palace was built in 1690. The Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi sent some 100 artisans of the Han, Manchu and Mongolia to take part in the construction. The Red Palace is consists of the Hall of the Buddha, the Scripture Hall and the Memorial Hall, each with a dozen or scores of rooms. The Hall of the Buddha houses gold traced portraits of Sakyamuni and deceased Dalai Lamas: the Scripture Hall keeps in it a large number of early copies of Buddhist sutras and the Memorial Hall contains stupas of the 13 late Dalai Lamas.

The palace was designed and built to take best advantage of the sunlight on the plateau and in its wide and solid foundations there are tunnels and vents. Each hall or bedroom has a skylight to allow daylight and fresh air in. The columns and beams of the palace are carved while the walls are painted with colorful murals. Since ancient times, Tibetans have painted their timber and pottery articles and the murals in the Potala Palace total some 2,500 square meters.

For more than 300 years, the Potala Palace was the center from which Tibet's political and religious administration was run. It is now a museum of historical relics and arts and crafts, including 50,000 square meters of frescos featuring lifelike figures, which tell religious stories, display local customs and habits, and often contain biographies of historical and religious figures, and records of historical events.

Tangka or Buddhist scroll paintings are usually done on cotton and some are patchwork or embroideries. Tibetan ones are painted on cotton cloth. As with paintings, Tangka are based on different theme such as Buddhas and historical figures, as well as history, medicine, architecture and arts. The paintings are usually in vivid colors.

Potala Palace houses many iron, bronze, gold and silver articles, such as weapons, from the Tubo Kingdom. There are also sacrificial articles from the same period and leather, textile, paper, porcelain and carved stone goods as well as gems, seals and the golden documents issued by emperors to the Dalai Lamas.

Potala Palace is also a world of murals, which are painted in hundreds of halls and corridors. It is a huge treasure house for materials and articles of Tibetan history, religion, culture and arts. In 1961 Potala Palace was listed a national cultural site under state protection. The palace was repaired in 1989 with funds provided by the central government.

In1994, UNESCO inscribed Potala Palace on the list of World Heritage.