“肥仔個頭，大過五層樓”，充滿情懷的廣州童謠中的“五層樓”，
即坐落在越秀山小蟠龍岡上的鎮海樓。
Standing about 25 meters tall on the Yuexiushan Mountain in Guangzhou, Zhenhai Lou Tower, or colloquially the Five-Storey Pogoda (五層樓), was first built in 1380 in Ming Dynasty.
鎮海樓，
始建於明代洪武十三年（1380年），是我國古建築少見的多層樓式建築，有“嶺南第一勝概”之譽。
因當時珠江水面寬闊，登樓而望，水波蕩漾，蔚為壯觀，故稱“望海樓”。後明朝嘉靖年間改名“鎮海樓”，有“雄鎮海疆”的意思。
In ancinet times, the Pearl River embraced a much broader expanse of water than it does now. When standing on the Zhenhai Lou Tower, visitors can enjoy spectacular views over the Pearl River. That's why it was also called Wanghai Lou (seaview) Tower back then. It was turned into Zhenhai Lou Tower in the reign of Emperor Jiajing in Ming Dynasty.
昔日，
人們常把廣州城比作一艘大船，花塔、光塔是兩支桅桿，鎮海樓則是船上的風帆。
Zhenhai Lou Tower, together with Chigang Pagoda, Pazhou Pagoda, and Lianhua Pagoda, was one of the landmark buildings in Guangzhou during ancient times. Numerous foreign merchants came to Guangzhou for trade via the Maritime Silk Road, and once they saw the Zhenhai Lou Tower, they knew they finally reached their destination.
自明代起，經海上絲綢之路而來廣州的外國商船，一過獅子洋，經虎門北上，沿途可見蓮花塔、琶洲塔、赤崗塔。駛進廣州城外，望到高聳在越秀山上的鎮海樓，便知到達了廣州。
Today, Zhenhai Lou Tower still can be found in many paintings that were exported overseas from Guangzhou, which reveals the important role of the tower at that time.
例如在眾多廣州出口外銷畫中都能看到鎮海樓的身影。
看下圖，最右邊那一座小紅樓就是~
證明其在廣州海上絲綢之路文化史中，也留下濃重的色彩。
“爭者必爭山，爭山必爭樓”
鎮海樓，兵家必爭之地
在過去6個多世紀中，鎮海樓，因據山川之險的特殊地理位置，成為兵家必爭之地。從舊照片看，能清楚地看到鎮海樓旁設有面對城外的大炮，城墻上設有敵樓。至今在鎮海樓前碑廊右側還陳列有12門古炮。
With an advantageous geographic location, Zhenhai Lou Tower had been a natural defence of great military importance for Guangzhou over the past six centuries. In some photos, Zhenhai Lou Tower can be seen surrounded by artilleries, and 12 ancient cannons are also displayed in front of the Tower today.
它曾見證清兵入關的血雨腥風。
清鹹豐四年（1854年），廣東爆發“洪兵”起義。兩廣總督葉名琛登上鎮海樓，指揮清兵與起義軍抵拒。
它也曾見證中國歷史上屈辱的一幕。
第二次鴉片戰爭時，英法聯軍兵臨城下。清廷官員卻在樓上籌議守戰，清政府無法抵擋英法聯軍的堅船鐵炮，英法聯軍占領廣州城，駐軍鎮海樓。
辛亥革命後，軍閥龍濟光盤踞廣東，駐軍越秀山，並將鎮海樓劃為禁區。而在日軍侵占廣州時期，曾屯兵越秀山，並在鎮海樓上囤積軍火彈藥。
關於鎮海樓的“傳說”
似乎每個文物或史跡後面總有那麼一段傳說，所以鎮海樓也不例外。
According to legends, Zhenhai Lou Tower was built because of a dream. It's said that Zhu Liangzu, an official of Guangzhou in early Ming dynasty, dreamt that two dragons, one from the Yuexiushan Mountain, one from the Pearl River, were fighting with each other.
傳說呀，建鎮海樓竟是源於明初永嘉侯朱亮祖的一個夢。明初洪武年間，鎮守廣州的朱亮祖想在越秀山上營造府第時，晚上卻做了個怪夢，夢見山上飛起一條赤龍，山對面的海(當年很寬的珠江)卻飛起一條青龍，兩條龍惡戰一番後，青龍潛下海中。
古時的皇帝與大官分外註重夢中所見，朱亮祖第二天馬上召集幕僚替他解夢，但眾說紛紜莫衷一是。消息傳開，廣州城中人心惶惶。朱亮祖只好立即修書給明太祖朱元璋，匯報情況。
Liu Bowen, a famous politician and poet in Ming Dynasty, interpreted that the dream was a good sign of defeating sea robbers, and he suggested a tower be built on the mountain.
皇帝接報，不敢怠慢，即召謀士劉伯溫解夢。劉伯溫說此乃我朝戰勝海賊大吉之兆，可命永嘉侯在山上建一四方塔以鎮海妖可也。於是，朱亮祖便奉皇命在山上建起塔樓，初名望海樓，後稱鎮海樓。
Therefore, Zhu Liangzu built up a tower on the mountain under the order of Emperor Hongwu, the founder of Ming Dynasty.
不過，那只是一個傳說，認真的話你就……
引無數文人為之“折腰”
曾作文廣州城標的鎮海樓，向來是名士登臨之地，因此留下極多文辭佳句。其中以彭玉麟所撰寫的傳誦最廣。
千萬劫，危樓尚存，
問誰摘鬥摩霄，目空今古；
五百年，故侯安在，
使我倚欄看劍，淚灑英雄！
1885年，中法戰爭清朝大敗，清政府選擇和法軍議和，當時率兵抵抗法軍的兵部尚書彭玉麟，雖反對妥協但耶無可奈何，心生感慨便在在鎮海樓撰寫此聯，至今仍銘刻於鎮海樓頂樓兩側。
As one of the landmark buildings of Guangzhou, the Tower attracted many celebrities who left many articles in praise of it. Among them was the article by Peng Yuling, an official in late Qing Dynasty, who expressed his patriotism and deep regret of losing the war against the French army in 1885.
五毀五建的鎮海樓
史籍記載，鎮海樓曾於明成化年間焚毀，1545年第一次重修。之後在明崇禎十年（1637年），明末清初，和清康熙年間，鎮海樓再度經過三次重修。英軍進逼廣州城時，鎮海樓頂部曾被炸毀。1928年重修鎮海樓時，把原有的木構換成鋼筋混凝土，奠定了今日的式樣。
鎮海樓曾五毀五建，雖歷次重修，
都基本按照原貌，所以外觀變化不大。
1929年成為廣州市市立博物館。1950年改名廣州博物館，分朝代陳列廣州城2000多年發展的文物史料。2003年3月，鎮海樓被列入第七批全國重點文物保護單位。
Due to frequent wars, Zhenhai Lou Tower had undergone reconstruction a few more times following its first rebuilding in 1545. After reconstructed in 1928, it was turned into a museum, which portrays the history and culture of Guangzhou. Today, it is home to the Guangzhou Museum and was listed as a historical site protected by the Guangzhou Municipal Government in March, 2003.
廣州博物館地址：廣州市越秀公園內
交通方式：地鐵越秀公園站
門票：10元
Address: Yuexiushan Mountain, Guangzhou
Opening hours: 9 am-5:30 pm
Admission: 10 yuan per ticket
Transportation: Yuexiu Park Station, metro line 2
Source: WeChat（絲路雲帆）