长沙天心区以前部分属于长沙南区，现在名字因为天心阁而得名，很多人知道天心阁是1983年重建的，但很少人知道天心阁始建于明朝，最早的名字叫天星阁，估计是我们长沙人前后鼻音不分，所以叫天心阁也一样。

天心阁一直是长沙城墙的东南角和老长沙城的制高点，所以天心阁下面虽然没有城门，但一直是兵家必争之地。最早攻破天心阁城墙的是明末陜北汉子张献忠，他进入长沙明代吉王府搜刮了很多财物，这些财物就是后来著名的文物，四川眉山江口沉银。

天心阁和下面的城墙在清朝又重修了两次，有意思的是修城墙又用了部分长沙吉王府的砖石，再后来清末太平天国围攻长沙，来势汹汹，因为他们出广西进湖南，一路几乎所向披靡。

但天心阁城墙下，有三千镇筸兵，也就是湖南湘西兵，他们和太平军发生激战，最后太平军的指挥官，西王萧朝贵不幸中了一发炮弹，直接在天心阁下面领了盒饭，这个事情对太平天国影响很深远。

所以太平军被迫绕开长沙城，继续向北进军，直到太平天国后来集体领了盒饭，他们也没有踏入过长沙城。

再后来很多人知道，天心阁经历了文夕大火所以被烧，但很少人知道长沙会战的时候，天心阁城墙差点被攻破，但有个叫葛先才的团长，在天心阁城墙下以少数兵力向城外大股日军阵地发起冲锋，连炊事员都拿扁担上了。最后城外日军被直接打懵了，以为城内长沙守军很多人才敢这么冲，所以日军选择撤退。

文夕大火之后的天心阁古城墙上面，五十年代到七十年代还建过一个茶馆，这家茶馆的包子和德园包子一度齐名。

再后来长沙被列为首批历史文化名城，因为文夕大火的原因，长沙没什么古建筑，所以决定1983年重修天心阁，用的仿木混凝土结构，并在1984年修好，天心阁下面的城墙是长沙老城墙251米的底子，所以有些老砖散落进了市民家里，后来修复的时候捐一块老城砖，就可以补一块新砖，所以城墙也是修复过的。

当然长沙更老的宋代城墙遗址在万达C座停车场里面，而且因为重修的天心阁主阁和副阁都比原阁小，所以城墙上产生的空地比较大，但重簷歇山顶的规格还是挺高的，而且飞簷是湖南古建筑的特点，夸张的翘，当然天心阁也有猫弓背封火墙，这个只有在湖南才看得到。

我尝试翻译个英文版，如果遇到外籍朋友可以介绍长沙的时候用：

Many people know that the Tianxin pavilion was rebuilt in 1983, but few people know that it was first built at the dawn of the Ming Dynasty in 1368. The Tianxin pavilion is situated in the southeast corner of Changsha city wall and used to be the tallest building of the ancient city. Throughout history, Changsha was a target for invasions due to the profitable rice fields of the Hunan Province, and its close proximity to the Yangtze River. The Pavillion’s height provided a strong defence for the city, and was used throughout the Ming dynasty by military strategists, despite its gateless entrance.

Zhang Xianzhong was the leader of the peasant uprising army in the Ming Dynasty and was the first to successfully lead his army through the Tianxin Pavilion and invade Changsha. During his raid, he plundered the wealth of King Ji's Palace and stole cultural golden relics that were invaluable. After his victory, he led his army to several Chinese provinces, until his defeat by the Qing army in Sichuan Province. During his defeat, it was said that Xianzhong threw the stolen goods from King Ji’s palace into the Sichuan river. 600 years later, archaeologists were able to recover the stolen gold and silver from the riverbed, confirming the truth behind the folklore of Zhang Xianzhong.

After the success of the Xianzhong invasion, the Pavillion was impenetrable for the armies that followed. Even the mighty Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a large rebel state from the South of China, tried to besiege Changsha in the late Qing Dynasty but their invasion was to no avail. They were met by a strong force of three thousand Ganjun soldiers, and were forced to retreat after their leader Xiao Chagui was killed in battle. The defeat was humiliating for the Taiping army, facing negative repercussions which they failed to recover from. The army was forced to bypass Changsha City and continue to march north until the soldiers disbanded.

The Pavillion remained as a mighty defence mechanism until 1938, when a deadly fire swallowed the city. The fire of Changsha is considered to be one of the worst city fires in Chinese history, leaving widespread destruction. The burnt down Pavillion left Changsha vulnerable for invasion, and this time it was by the Japanese. Unfortunately, great swathes of the Pavilion underwent further damage during battle but despite the weakened Changsha city, the Japanese invasion was unsuccessful. The military leader Ge Xiancai launched an effective counter charge against a large number of Japanese positions outside the city. Even the cooks got involved in the cause, taking up arms and fighting alongside the soldiers. The Japanese forces were stunned by the strength of Changsha’s small army and chose to withdraw for the time being. The Japanese army eventually returned in 1944, successfully invading Changsha city. They held the city under Japanese occupation until 1945 when they lost the Second World War.

In the following decades, Changsha has become one of the most famous historical and cultural cities. On the ancient wall, where the Pavilion once stood, a teahouse was built from the 1950s to the 1970s which became famous for its steamed stuffed buns, similar to those in Deyuan. Due to the fire of Changsha in 1938, there were no longer any ancient buildings. It was therefore decided to rebuild the Tianxin Pavilion in 1983 with a wooden and concrete frame. Bricks from the ancient wall were either renovated to new and more sturdy material, or disassembled and gifted to local families. The older Song Dynasty city wall site in Changsha is now located in the parking lot of Block C of Wanda, which tourists and residents can still visit.