The Central Highland province of Lam Dong is finding ways to restore the architecture of Cat Tien Holy Land.
Itis coordinating with historians from the Ho Chi Minh City NationalUniversity and the Vietnam Archaeology Institute to design a project toresearch the architecture of Cat Tien Holy Land, which is located insidean archaeological site, according to Nguyen Thi Nguyen, Deputy Directorof the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Theproject aims to rebuild a number of architectural icons at the site tosave the tourist site and its development as well as the chance toresearch its history in the future.
It will also help throwlight on a number of issues, such as dates and the hidden treasures ofthe Cat Tien Holy Land, that are still a matter of debate amonghistorians and experts.
The Cat Tien Archaeological site wasexcavated in 1991 and recognised as a national relic site in 1998,according to information from the Lam Dong Museum.
Nguyen said:"Archaeologists have already excavated 10ha of the site, while theremaining 70ha of land on the site are still being used by the localpeople. Before excavations, the site had been illegally dug up bythieves searching for gold and antiques so the site's surface isdisordered."
The site consists of temple towers dating back tothe 7th or 8th century AD. Archaeologists, however, have found that mostof its surface architecture has been damaged. Only some traces of the3m-high tiled wall still remain.
They remark that the 1.5m structure inside the perimeter of the land had also been built with tiles.
Nguyensaid Lam Dong province had invested about 38 billion VND (1.79 millionUSD) to fund several constructions, including the museum to preserve,protect and display excavated relics.
Currently, the Cat Tienarchaeological site has about 1,300 excavated objects, which aretemporarily preserved in the Lam Dong Museum.
According toNguyen, the province is compiling documents to propose that the Ministryof Culture, Sports and Tourism recognise the site as a special nationalrelic.-VNA
Itis coordinating with historians from the Ho Chi Minh City NationalUniversity and the Vietnam Archaeology Institute to design a project toresearch the architecture of Cat Tien Holy Land, which is located insidean archaeological site, according to Nguyen Thi Nguyen, Deputy Directorof the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Theproject aims to rebuild a number of architectural icons at the site tosave the tourist site and its development as well as the chance toresearch its history in the future.
It will also help throwlight on a number of issues, such as dates and the hidden treasures ofthe Cat Tien Holy Land, that are still a matter of debate amonghistorians and experts.
The Cat Tien Archaeological site wasexcavated in 1991 and recognised as a national relic site in 1998,according to information from the Lam Dong Museum.
Nguyen said:"Archaeologists have already excavated 10ha of the site, while theremaining 70ha of land on the site are still being used by the localpeople. Before excavations, the site had been illegally dug up bythieves searching for gold and antiques so the site's surface isdisordered."
The site consists of temple towers dating back tothe 7th or 8th century AD. Archaeologists, however, have found that mostof its surface architecture has been damaged. Only some traces of the3m-high tiled wall still remain.
They remark that the 1.5m structure inside the perimeter of the land had also been built with tiles.
Nguyensaid Lam Dong province had invested about 38 billion VND (1.79 millionUSD) to fund several constructions, including the museum to preserve,protect and display excavated relics.
Currently, the Cat Tienarchaeological site has about 1,300 excavated objects, which aretemporarily preserved in the Lam Dong Museum.
According toNguyen, the province is compiling documents to propose that the Ministryof Culture, Sports and Tourism recognise the site as a special nationalrelic.-VNA
