The Citadel of Hue City
The poetic and beautiful Hue
of Vietnam was chosen to be the capital of the Southern Kingdom under
Nguyen Lords’ Dynasty, and officially became the nation's capital under
Tay Son Dynasty, King Quang Trung. The citadel palace complex is located
on the North bank of Huong River (Perfume River),
inside Hue city. It is a huge complex covering an area of 520ha and
comprising three circles of ramparts, Kinh Thanh Hue (Hue Capital
Citadel), Hoang Thanh (Royal Citadel) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden
Citadel). It was said to be protected by the two sand dunes: The Con Hen
and Con Da Vien on the Perfume River, as "dragon on the left, tiger on
the right". If you are in Hue, please join us in this small journey
exploring the beautiful feudal palace, the inspiration for numerous
artists ever stepping inside!
The very first stop-over is the exterior circle, the Kinh Thanh Hue (Hue capital citadel), which started
to be constructed in 1805 under the reign of Emperor Gia Long and was
completed in 1832 under the sovereignty of Emperor Ming Mang. Over the
past 200 years, it has still maintained original with nearly 140 small
and large constructions. With a square shape, it is almost 10km in
circumference, 6m high, 21m thick, with 10 entrances. On the top of the
walls, 24 bastions are established for defensive purposes. Besides, the
Citadel has an ancillary gate connecting the Tran Binh Bastion called
the Tran Binh Mon (Peaceful protector Gate).
Now we get further into the second circle, the Hoang Thanh (Royal citadel), also the most important part of the Citadel, which
was built in 1804 but totally completed in 1833, under King Ming Mang’s
reign. The Citadel, which is more than 600m long for each side, was
built with bricks of 4m high, and 1m thick. Around the citadel is a
protecting trench system. Tourists can get access to the Imperial
Citadel through four entrance gates. In the past, Ngo Mon Gate was only
reserved for the King. Royal Citadel consists of more than 100
fascinating architectural works divided into numerous sections:
- Section of the Ngo Mon Gate and the Thai Hoa Palace: used for various grand ceremonies.
- Section for placing shrines of the Kings under Nguyen Dynasty: Trieu Mieu, Thai Mieu, Hung Mieu, The Mieu and Phung Tien Temples.
- Section of internal affairs office: Storehouse for precious objects, workshop for manufacturing various useful articles.
- Section of the Kham Van Palace and Co Ha Garden: is where the princes studied or relaxed Passing through Hoang Thanh, we enter Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Citadel). Situated inside the Imperial Citadel complex, behind the Throne Palace, the Purple Forbidden Citadel was reserved for Emperor and his family. Built in the early 1803 under reign of Emperor Gia Long, it was initially named Cung Thanh. In 1821, it was renamed into the today’s Tu Cam Thanh.
Should
you ever come inside the citadel, taking a look into the special feudal
relics of immense architectural and cultural values, you will surely
more or less love the traditional and classical side of Vietnam. As time
goes by, thousands of changes have occurred, the precious historical
and classical beauty of the nation would never be gone!
Other tourist activities:
- Xa Tac pavilion
- Flag tower
- The Hue National University
- Hue royal imperial fine art galary
- Bookstore palace
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