Vo Ngoc Nguyen Chau, an exhibition guide, said according to legend, in the 18th century after the temple was built, a huge whale had beached itself here.īecause of its size, at over 20 meters in length and weighing 65 tons, it took two days to deliver it to the temple, which had its front gate destroyed in the process, pending a funeral ceremony. "The old architecture here is so beautiful - I didn't expect to see such a large whale skeleton," said Le Thu, a tourist among a group of 30 people from Ho Chi Minh City. On weekends, the relic attracts scores of curious visitors. More will be relocated this year from other relics across the citadel.Van Thuy Tu is located on Ngu Ong Street, Duc Thang Ward, about 150 meters from Phan Thiet Port in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. The slum, which has an estimated population of 15,000, stands in what is known as Hue Relic Area 1. In March, 523 households near Thuong Thanh relic dismantled their homes themselves and relocated to Huong So. Thua Thien-Hue provincial officials announced the relocation plan in 2018. Since 1945, thousands of households had settled in areas within its walls. The citadel has 10 main gates facing different directions. Its perimeter covers nearly 10 km while its surrounding walls are 6.6 m high, and 21 m wide. The Hue Imperial Citadel was built under King Gia Long (1802-1820), the first Nguyen Dynasty Emperor, and restored under King Minh Mang (1820-1839), the second Nguyen Emperor. They were most likely used as an escape route," Hang said. "The two gates are very mysterious since there are no record of their existence. Another theory holds they may have been an escape route for the royals," said Hoa.ĭr Tran Dinh Hang, director of the National Institute of Culture and Arts of Vietnam in Hue, said that the newly discovered gates would help researchers learn more about the architecture of the citadel. "Perhaps these two small gates served Nguyen Dynasty guards at Thuy Quan, monitoring boats passing from Dong Ba River to Ngu Ha River. Boats wanting to enter the Hue Imperial Citadel on Ngu Ha River had to pass through Thuy Quan, guarded by 13 gun or cannon placements. Hoa added that in the past, Thuy Quan served as an important defensive post for the Nguyen Dynasty. But there is no information about the gates themselves, which are big enough for one person per entry, he said. Within the entire imperial citadel, two epitaphs located by Khanh Ninh Bridge and Kho Bridge bear information on the formation of Ngu Ha River to the east of Thuy Quan, where both gates are situated. Researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa, former director of Thua Thien-Hue's Department of Culture and Sports, said historic Nguyen Dynasty records do not mention the two gates. The second gate, situated to the left of Luong Y Bridge, sits behind a house built decades ago. It was discovered following the demolition of homes built on the Thuong Thanh relic in Thuan Loc Ward of Hue that saw residents relocated earlier this month.
The brick floor beneath the bridge arch was found to be intact. The first gate, situated to the right of Luong Y Bridge, is 80 cm wide and 100 cm high. The citadel, a UNESCO world heritage site in Hue Town of Thua Thien-Hue Province, was home to the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), Vietnam's last royal family.
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