Hué’s Imperial Citadel
The Imperial Citadel in Hué
One reason why I’ve chosen to go to Central Vietnam instead of the popular cities of Hanoi in the north or Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in the south is because the Central region has a concentration of 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites all quite accessible from the regions main gateway city of Da Nang. UNESCO’s got quite a lengthy list, which I doubt I could cover all of them in this lifetime. And you could never go wrong visiting these sites as they are carefully selected, funded and preserved.
The Ngo Mon Gate and Bridge
Our first stop is up to the city of Hué (h-way). I didn’t expect Hué to be such a big and modern city and was surprised to see how developed it was. I was imagining the place to be smaller, provincial like, with all the sights just a walking distance from each other. Though the place somehow caught up in urban development, the city still have the Complex Monuments spread out across the city along by the scenic Perfume River. These historical monuments, despite being stricken by war managed to survive and earned its rightful place in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
The Ngo Mon night lights and the moon
The most prominent of these monuments is the Imperial Citadel, the former imperial seat of the government. Hué city was established in 1802 and was the political, cultural and religious center under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945. The citadel was heavily stricken with war from the French and Viet Minh in 1947, the Tet Offensive in 1968 and bombings by the Americans which destroyed the Inner City of the citadel. Despite this, there were major structures spared and major restorations of the other structures are on their way.
Courtyard and Thai Hoa Place across the Bridge
Upon arriving in the citadel you’ll be entering by the impressive Ngo Mon entrance, built in 1883 by Minh Mang. Its doors were exclusively for the emperor’s use. Going on the 2nd floor will give you a nice view of the surroundings of the citadel.
Thai Hoa Place emperor’s hall
Going further along the Ngo Mon Bridge is the Thai Hoa Place, the emperor’s coronation hall. The place has a very impressive roof with sophisitically designed guardians and dragon statues. Inside you’ll be able to view the intricately adorned Emperor’s seat.
Roof Dragon
Passing by Thai Hoa Place you’ll be entering the Forbidden Purple City, which unfortunately now is more of an empty field and ruins. On the sides there are still some Mandarin houses and pagodas still intact.
Door guardians
Best time to visit the Citadel would be in the afternoon till the sun sets as the night lights here is pretty impressive. There’s a share of tourist crowd here as usual so you can also opt to visit early morning where the crowd is thin. The place really reminds me of our local Walled city of Intramuros, but more impressive and grand. Admission to the citadel is around 55000 Dong or 3.5 USD.
Tags: Heritage, Hue, Imperial Citadel, Structures, UNESCO, Vietnam
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Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 4:54 pm 
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July 3rd, 2006 at 11:31 am
Wow. Beautiful. Just beautiful
July 3rd, 2006 at 4:52 pm
i love the first and third shots… ganda ng pagkakakuha… sa 3rd ang ganda ng pagka blue nung background…
i cehcked din yung heritage site ng phils from ur link, yung underground river palang sa palawan ang napupuntahan ko…
July 4th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
classic na classic yung architecture, lalo na nung pinakita mo yung roof dragon, ganyan ka detail yung design ng mga roof, lupet!
penge It ha, kapag di ka na busy.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
sulit na sulit ang ~P175 entrance fee. it’s amazing that they were able to preserve all these. and yes, the night lights go well with the great architecture. ganda ng detail sa roof dragon!
cruise:
eto ba destination mo sa Sept? hehehe!
July 6th, 2006 at 1:16 am
great capture….the angle and composition r fantastic….lovely detail of the old architecture…really beautiful place:-)))
July 25th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
[...] Still part of Hue’s UNESCO sites are the numerous Royal Tombs scattered along its area. Most of these are form the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) which is the last of Vietnam’s Royal families. There were 13 kings then but for some reasons there were only 7 royal tombs constructed on the hilly regions just south of the Imperial Citadel. In order to access to these tombs, you can hire a scooter or a motorcycle to drive you in each tomb, most popular though are the Dragon Boats which will cruise you along the Perfume River. Dragon boats, which are the leisurely way to travel, cost about $3 USD per pax for a whole day including lunch. Downside here is once you docked on different points; you still have to hire a xe om (scooter) to take you to the tombs since. And you know you have to haggle for a really good price and a good price starts around $1 USD and in addition to that is the 55000 Dong in each of the tomb entrance. It takes a couple of days to see all the tombs. For us however, having only limited time, we were able to visit two tombs, via motorcycle (which we contracted for the duration of our trip). [...]
June 25th, 2008 at 11:51 am
[...] well since it has 3 World Heritage sites that yielded each a unique experience: from the elaborate citadels and tomb raiding at Hue, warping back in time at the French Colonial streets of Hoi An and exploring the Ancient Kingdom of [...]