The National Tourism Year 2015 themed “Connecting world heritages” islaunched on late April 3 in central Thanh Hoa province that houses theHo Dynasty Citadel, a world cultural heritage site.
The HoDynasty Citadel was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site in 2011. The recognition has brought pride and a great joy to theVietnamese people while paying homage to the great historical valuesleft by the Vietnamese ancestors.
The HoDynasty Citadel was the cultural centre of the capital of Vietnam in thelate 14th century and early 15th century and a political, economic andcultural hub of the northern part of the central region of Vietnam fromthe 16th to the 18th century.
It was built in 1397 in the twocommunes of Vinh Tien and Vinh Long in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoaprovince with the supervision of the Tran dynasty's top mandarin, Ho QuyLy. He later occupied the citadel when he forcibly took the throne in1400, changing the country's name from Dai Viet to Dai Ngu.
Unlikemany other citadels that were built from bricks, the citadel was builtwith huge stone slabs from nearby mountains. It features four archedgates facing east, west, north and south. The large stone slabs requireda new building technique that workers installed without the use of anymortar.
The citadel buildings represented an outstanding exampleof a new style of Southeast Asian imperial cities. The citadel'sgrounds include the Hoang Nguyen, Dien Tho and Dong Cung palaces, whichwere linked by roads paved with stone. The citadel itself includesbuildings such as the Dan Nam Giao (a platform used for offerings to theheavens), Dong Mon communal house and Tam Tong temple among otherstructures. However, after several centuries, almost all of thecitadel's main structures have been seriously damaged, while the walland four main entrances are still well preserved.
TheCitadel of Ho Dynasty has been attracting more and more tourists sinceit was recognised as a world cultural heritage site.
Each year, the relic welcomes about 70,000 visitors.
Inrecent years, the Ho Citadel has gradually revealed more valuablehistorical items. Notably, the basic but quite comprehensivearchitecture of Nam Giao Esplanade has been unearthed in an area of overone thousand square metres. The researchers claimed the esplanade ispresently the most intact in Vietnam with a series of vestiges such asthe Than Dao Road and the King’s well, drainage system. Based on theunearthed vestiges, Thanh Hoa province has reconstructed the large-scaleNam Giao esplanade.
Archaeologists have unearthed the Hoang Gia(Royal) road (also known as Hoe Nhai road) at the southern gate of thecitadel with a unique structure. So far, Hoang Gia road has existedintact with a length of about 2km. In addition, the discovery andresearch of ancient stone exploitation work in An Ton Mountain in VinhYen commune and Xuan Dai Mountain in Vinh Ninh commune have specialimportance in clarifying doubts of the origin of the materials exploitedand used to build the Ho citadel.
The National Tourism Year 2015 is expected to attract 5 million domestic and foreign visitors.-VNA
The HoDynasty Citadel was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site in 2011. The recognition has brought pride and a great joy to theVietnamese people while paying homage to the great historical valuesleft by the Vietnamese ancestors.
The HoDynasty Citadel was the cultural centre of the capital of Vietnam in thelate 14th century and early 15th century and a political, economic andcultural hub of the northern part of the central region of Vietnam fromthe 16th to the 18th century.
It was built in 1397 in the twocommunes of Vinh Tien and Vinh Long in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoaprovince with the supervision of the Tran dynasty's top mandarin, Ho QuyLy. He later occupied the citadel when he forcibly took the throne in1400, changing the country's name from Dai Viet to Dai Ngu.
Unlikemany other citadels that were built from bricks, the citadel was builtwith huge stone slabs from nearby mountains. It features four archedgates facing east, west, north and south. The large stone slabs requireda new building technique that workers installed without the use of anymortar.
The citadel buildings represented an outstanding exampleof a new style of Southeast Asian imperial cities. The citadel'sgrounds include the Hoang Nguyen, Dien Tho and Dong Cung palaces, whichwere linked by roads paved with stone. The citadel itself includesbuildings such as the Dan Nam Giao (a platform used for offerings to theheavens), Dong Mon communal house and Tam Tong temple among otherstructures. However, after several centuries, almost all of thecitadel's main structures have been seriously damaged, while the walland four main entrances are still well preserved.
TheCitadel of Ho Dynasty has been attracting more and more tourists sinceit was recognised as a world cultural heritage site.
Each year, the relic welcomes about 70,000 visitors.
Inrecent years, the Ho Citadel has gradually revealed more valuablehistorical items. Notably, the basic but quite comprehensivearchitecture of Nam Giao Esplanade has been unearthed in an area of overone thousand square metres. The researchers claimed the esplanade ispresently the most intact in Vietnam with a series of vestiges such asthe Than Dao Road and the King’s well, drainage system. Based on theunearthed vestiges, Thanh Hoa province has reconstructed the large-scaleNam Giao esplanade.
Archaeologists have unearthed the Hoang Gia(Royal) road (also known as Hoe Nhai road) at the southern gate of thecitadel with a unique structure. So far, Hoang Gia road has existedintact with a length of about 2km. In addition, the discovery andresearch of ancient stone exploitation work in An Ton Mountain in VinhYen commune and Xuan Dai Mountain in Vinh Ninh commune have specialimportance in clarifying doubts of the origin of the materials exploitedand used to build the Ho citadel.
The National Tourism Year 2015 is expected to attract 5 million domestic and foreign visitors.-VNA
