World Town God's Temple

Tianxiadu City God Temple is located on Tianziling, a mountain 25 kilometers southeast of Changzhi County, facing north and south. It is a complete single-entry courtyard, facing north and south.

There are 108 steps of gravel from the bottom of the mountain to the front of the temple, which are very steep. Starting from the mountain gate, the theater, the offering pavilion, the main hall and other buildings are built on three-story platforms in sequence. The mountain gate and the theater are integrated into one, the theater is upside down, and the wing rooms are facing each other. The offering pavilion is three bays wide with a curved roof, the main hall is three bays wide and six rafters deep, and the hollow carvings between the beams and columns are lifelike flowers, birds, insects, fish, generals, knights and characters from drama stories. Tianxiadu City God Temple is now a key cultural relic protection unit at the municipal level.

Legend: It is said that there was only a small mountain temple on Tianzi Ridge. According to legend, Wang Mang usurped the throne and came to Tianzi Ridge to hunt down Liu Xiu. At this time, Liu Xiu was thirsty and had no strength to escape. Seeing that the pursuers were approaching, Liu Xiu ran to the mountain temple in a hurry. This mountain temple was dilapidated. When the door was tightly covered by a large spider web, Liu Xiu rushed through in panic, and the spider web was poked with a big hole. He entered the temple and looked back to see that the spider web was broken. He couldn't help but sighed: "Wang Mang, the thief, came and saw that the spider web was broken. He must have expected that I was in the temple, how could I survive?" Thinking of this, he knelt down in front of the altar and prayed: "Mountain God, show your spirit. If you can close the spider web and save my life, Liu Xiu will ascend the throne again in the future, and I will definitely make you the city god of the world!" When he finished speaking, he looked back and saw that the spider web had already closed, and the door was covered more tightly. Soon, Wang Mang, full of murderous intent, arrived with his men. Seeing no trace of Liu Xiu, he wanted to search the temple. He saw spider webs covering the door and no trace of damage, so he hurriedly chased after him elsewhere. Later, when Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he really named this place "The City God of the World", rebuilt the temple, and personally wrote the plaque. Tianzi Ridge was also called "City God Ridge". To this day, the five characters "The City God of the World" on the horizontal plaque of the temple gate can still be vaguely seen.