A discharge lamp 50 comprises a luminous bulb 10 in which a luminous
material 18 is encapsulated and a pair of electrodes 12 are arranged to
be opposed to each other, and sealing parts (11a, 11b) that are formed at
both ends of the luminous bulb 10 and in which metal foil structures 13
electrically connected to the pair of electrodes 12, respectively, are
sealed. At least one of the metal foil structures 13 is composed of a
first metal foil 13a, a second metal foil 13b and a metal bar 21 coupling
both of them. At least one sealing part 11b of the sealing parts includes
a cavity 20 around the position where in the sealing part the metal bar
21 is located, and at least a rare gas is encapsulated in the cavity 20.