This pagoda may be one of the oldest in Vietnam. According to legend, it was built during the Nam De Dynasty (544-548). Originally, the pagoda had been built adjacent to the Cai River and called Khai Quoc (Founding of the Nation). Its name was changed to An Quoc Pagoda.

Then in the reign of King Le Kinh Tong (1600-18), the river bank broke, the people removed the pagoda and rebuilt it on Ca Vang island in the middle of West Lake (its current location) where the Ly Kings had built Thuy Hoa Hall and the Tran Dynasty had constructed Ham Nguyen Palace. King Le Hy Tong (16680-1705) changed its name to Tran Quoc. The present pagoda still maintains a unique architecture so different from other pagodas. At the front, there is a visitors hall before entering the interior of the pagoda.

At the rear there are two corridors and a bell tower. Inside the pagoda are various beautiful statues, the most notable of which is the wooden gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. There are also stone slab steles, the oldest of which was built in 1639 on which Dr. Nguyen Xuan Chinh wrote the history of the major repair to this pagoda in that very year.

There is a luxuriant Bo tree in the pagoda's current playground that was a monument presented by the President of India who paid a visit to the pagoda in 1959.