Inverse opal photonic crystals of TbPO4 with coexisting (001) and (111) orientations were prepared by the self-assembly technique in combination with a sol-gel method. Optical and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the (001) and (111) orientation regions were investigated in TbPO4 inverse opals. It was found that the photonic bandgap along the (001) orientation shifted to shorter wavelengths compared with that of the (111) orientation in the inverse opals. The effect of the photonic bandgap on the spontaneous emission of the D-5(4)-> F-7(n) transitions of Tb3+ was observed in the TbPO4 inverse opals. Significant suppression of the emission was detected if the photonic bandgap overlapped with the Tb3+ ions emission band.