The Complex of Hue Monuments

Located along the Perfume River in Hue City and several nearby areas of Thua Thien Hue Province, Complex of Hue Monuments was recognized as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 1993. Nowadays, this complex is also placed in the list of 62 important national monuments requiring a high level of preservation.

Hue City was the old capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945). After the wedding of the princess, Huyen Tran of Tran Dynasty with Che Man – the Cham King in 1306, the territories of Chau A and Chau Ly (accounting for Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and a part of Northern Quang Nam today) was named into Thuan Hoa. In the late 15th century, the name of “Hue” appeared for the first time under the governance of King Le Thanh Tong. In 1636, Nguyen Lord settled down at Kim Long (Hue). In 1678, he continued moving to Phu Xuan where the Complex of Hue Monuments is located today. In the early of the 18th century, Phu Xuan became the cultural, political and economic center of the Southern part of Vietnam. After that, it was the capital of the Tay Son Dynasty from 1788 to 1801.

Has gone through many ups and downs of history, Hue was the capital of Vietnam reigned by the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945 with 13 generations of Nguyen Kings. During this period, they had built many architectural works with the highlights of the Citadel including the Imperial City (253 constructions), 7 Royal tomb of 9 Nguyen Kings, the Esplanade of Nam Giao, the Ho Quyen arena and the Hon Chen Temple.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Situated right next to Thu Bon River, Hoi An Ancient Town was a famous town named Faifo were used to be a trading area of numerous businessman from Japan, China, Spain, and Italy, etc. in 16th, 17th century. At that time, Hoi An had become a prosperous trading port, a huge and crowded commercial zone of Southeast Asia and one of the main harbor of merchant ships in the Far-east. Many foreign traders chose this town as a second hometown to settle down then, built houses, temples, and pagodas with the typical style of their own native land that mainly created the unique combination of culture and architectures from other countries like Japan or China in Hoi An. After that, due to unexpected events, Hoi An gradually was taken its favorable position from Da Nang Port. However, thank to not being urbanized, Hoi An still mostly kept its tiny streets and alleys, tiled-roof houses, ancient assembly halls, and Cau Bridge, etc. which are highlights attracting many tourists in nowadays.

After many centuries, Hoi An has still retained its traditions, folk festivals, beliefs and sophisticated culinary art. Situated in a quiet place, Hoi An is covered by peaceful villages that are famous for handicrafts like bronze making, ceramic, carpentry etc.

Visiting Hoi An, tourists can have an opportunity to witness the sparkling and fanciful scenery of Lantern Festival associated with traditional handicraft for a thousand year. This festival annually takes place at nights in the middle month based on Lunar Calendar especially Mid- Autumn Festival and 7 nights of Tet Holiday are most monumentally organized. In 1999, Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO.

My Son Sanctuary

Heading to the Southwest from Danang City about 70km and Hoi An about 40km, My Son Sanctuary is located in a valley in Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province. Nowadays, My Son has 71 monuments and 32 epitaphs in a total of 225 Cham vestiges that were found in Vietnam. In 1999, My Son Sanctuary was recognized as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO.

In the part, the Cham Kingdom had 2 sanctuaries owned by 2 main opponent clans. My Son was a place for the worship of God Srisana Bhadresvara, belonged to Dua Clan who reigned over the north of the kingdom. Another sanctuary was called Po Nagar – a place to dedicate Goddess Po Nagar which belonged to Cau Clan who ruled over the rest of the kingdom. However, My Son was acknowledged as the sanctuary of the Cham Kingdom.

My Son Sanctuary was built in the 4th century by Bhadravarman to dedicate God Shiva Bharesvara. Unfortunately, the temple was destroyed after that. Until the early of the 7th century, King Sambhuvarman rebuilt and rebaptized Sambhu-Bhadresvara. At My Son, there were ceremonies of purification taken place for each new monarch to present offerings and erect new monuments. That is also the reason why Cham art was very prosperous without interruption from the 7th to the 13th century in only My Son Sanctuary.

My Son has temples built into different groups in the same model. There is the main sanctuary called kalan in each group that is covered by towers and additional monuments. Representing for Mery Mountain – a center of the universe and the living place of Gods, kalan is a place for the worship of Shiva. The other small temples are used to dedicate the spirits of the eight compass points. The top of the towers with tiled and curved roofs was covered by the offerings and sacred objects of the pilgrims. Due to having no windows, it is very dark inside the temples. They are only designed on the towers.

Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long – Hanoi

Occupying a huge area of 18.395ha, the central sector of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long – Hanoi includes archaeological area at 18 Hoang Dieu Street and several monuments in Hanoi Citadel which are Hanoi Flag Tower, Kinh Thien Palace, Building D67, Bac Mon, Doan Mon, Forbidden City Wall and 8 gates from the Nguyen Dynasty. These monuments are located in Ba Dinh District and covered by Phan Dinh Phung Street in the north; Bac Son Street and National Assembly Building in the south; Hoang Dieu, Doc Lap Street and National Building in the west and Nguyen Tri Phuong in the east.

In 1009, Ly Cong Uan came to the throne and establish the Ly Dynasty. In 1010, he ordained a royal decree named Chieu Doi Do to move the capital from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Dai La Citadel (Thang Long). After that, he issued an order to build a new citadel named Thang Long then its construction was finished in early 1011.

The Citadel of Thang Long was protected by three incorporated and solid forts. The covering fort was Kinh Thanh (Imperial City) surrounded by To Lich River, Kim Nguu River and Red River with the purpose of a dyke system for the city. Hoang Thanh (Imperial Citadel) was the middle fort where the offices, residence of mandarins and royal court were set. The smallest area in the center where the king, queens and other royal relatives lived with very strict protection was Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden City).

In the Tran Dynasty, the Citadel of Thang Long was repaired and continue being expanded until Le So Dynasty. From 1516 to 1788 under the reign of Mac and Le Trung Hung Dynasty, it was ruined many times before becoming a defensive fortification in the northern of Thang Long called Bac Thanh in 1789 when King Quang Trung transferred the capital to Phu Xuan. Its remaining part was transferred to Phu Xuan for building new citadel in Nguyen Dynasty. Kings Nguyen only maintained Kinh Thien Palace and Hau Lau for their business trips when they were in Bac Thanh. In 1805, King Gia Long commanded to build a new and smaller citadel in the architectural style of Vauban (France) to exchange the surrounding part of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. In a big administrative reform in 1831, its name was changed to Hanoi Province by King Minh Mang. When all Indochina was invaded by French colonists, Hanoi was chosen as the capital of French Indochina Union and Hanoi Citadel was ruined to build French military camp. Until 1954 when the Vietnamese army gained control from French colonists, they chose Hanoi Citadel to be their headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. Because of retaining those historical values, the Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long – Hanoi was recognized as a cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 2010

Citadel of the Ho Dynasty

Being the old citadel of Vietnam from 1398 to 1407, Citadel of the Ho Dynasty is located in communes of Vinh Tien, Vinh Long, Vinh Quang, Vinh Yen, Vinh Phuc, Vinh Ninh, Vinh Khang, Vinh Thanh and Vinh Loc Town (Vinh Loc District) of Thanh Hoa Province.

In 1397, Ho Quy Ly – the highest-ranking mandarin of the Tran Dynasty directed the construction of this citadel. After finishing the building, Ho Quy Ly forced King Tran Thuan Tong to transfer the capital from the citadel of Thang Long to Thanh Hoa. In 1400, Ho Quy Ly replaced King Tran to get the throne then he renamed the country into Dai Ngu and recognize Ho Dynasty as a capital citadel. This citadel is also known as An Ton, Tay Do, Tay Kinh, Tay Nhai and Tay Giai.

Nowadays, the citadel of the Ho Dynasty is recognized as the only remained stone citadel in Southeast Asia and is one of several remains in the world. In 2011, the Citadel of Ho Dynasty gained the title of world cultural heritage sites issued by UNESCO because of responding 2 criteria which are “to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design,” and “to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.” After all, we offer Vietnam Heritage Tour in 7 Days if you love Heritage Sites in Vietnam

Being a part of Gulf of Tonkin and Van Don island district (Quang Ning Province) and comprising Halong City’s and Cam Pha City’s sea area, Halong Bay is a mighty and magnificent masterpiece by Nature with unknown 1,969 and named 989 islands limestone islands and islets covering a total area of 1,553km². The average geological age of the islands is between 250 and 280 million years old.

Its name means “descending of the dragon” derived from a legend of local people in a thousand years ago. To help Vietnamese people defend foreign aggression, Gods sent a family of dragons into this region. The dragons spat out gemstones to create long and consistent wall rising from the sea to inhibit the enemy that helped Vietnamese people gain victory.

Halong Bay is famous for its variety of islands and islets with unique shapes like a pair of a chicken standing together (Trong Mai islet), old fisherman (La Vong islet) or an eagle looking for food (Dai Bang islet), etc. The beauty of Halong Bay was demonstrated poetically through a lyric poem composed by great poet Nguyen Trai on his travel to Van Don:

“How innumerous mountains to Van Don
A wonder of the earth erected toward the high sky”
(Extracted from the poem “The way to Van Don”)

The shape of mountains, islands and the color of the water are not only uniquenesses of the beauty of this bay. That beauty is also shown in its diverse system of grottos and caves such as Thien Cung (Heavenly Palace Grotto), Dau Go (Driftwood Grotto), Sung Sot (Surprise Grotto), Tam Cung (Three Palace Grotto), Trinh Nu (Virgin Grotto), etc. Moreover, witnessing superb sunset or sunrise on a cruise, kayaking, swimming in the bay or squid fishing at night are attractive activities in Halong Bay. In 1994, it was recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park

Located in Quang Binh Province occupying a part of Quang Ninh, Bo Trach and Minh Hoa district and covering a total area of over 343,000 hectares (central zone of 123,300 ha and surround the area of 220,000 ha). Phong Nha – Ke Bang was recognized as a world natural heritage site in terms of geologic and geomorphology criteria by UNESCO in 2003. In 2015, this national park continued being recognized with the same title but in biological diversity.

Known as a giant geological museum, Phong Nha – Ke Bang owns diverse geological structure with different categories of stone like quartz, siliceous limestone, schist, granite, sandstone, diorite, granodiorite, applet, pegmatite, etc. Besides, aged 400 million years during the main geological periods of the Earth, Phong Nha – Ke Bang is the oldest and largest tropical karst with the original topographic and geologic characteristics. The establishment of high mountain ranges and the depressed sedimentary basins also had a part in the variety of geology, topography, and geomorphology.

Based on researches about Phong Nha – Ke Bang, scientists have found a lot of valuable information about the Earth’s extended geological process through many periods from the Ordovician Age Silurian Age (around 463.9 – 430 million years ago) to the Quaternary Age (1.75 million years ago). Besides, there was also a discovery of the system of rivers and grottos under the limestone mountains containing precious sources for study.

Apart from karst geomorphologic area, Phong Nha – Ke Bang also has a non- karst geomorphologic area including a lot of mountains covered by a floristic carpet. Due to the erosion, many abrasion-accumulation terraces have formed along the valleys of the Son and Chay rivers and at the margins of the central limestone massifs. Being intercalated between limestone mountains, there is a diverse system of rock formed from the transition terrain.

Trang An Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh

It’ s about 2 hours from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, the land in the South of Red River Delta, Trang An Landscape Complex is really a must-see destination during your trip to Vietnam as it offers awesome views of limestone karst peaks, valleys, and steep cliffs. Evidence of human activities dating back to 30,000 years ago have been found in this area. The complex also consists of pagodas, temples, rice paddy fields, and small villages. This place is known as a Halong on the ground by amazing landscapes mixed with the ripe rice field make Trang An is highlighted as a picturesque. It also becomes the pride of Vietnam as well as of the local when becoming one of the main places of Hollywood Film. By its beauty, nowadays, it is one of the main destinations in Vietnam attracting many tourists each year.

Exploring Vietnam’s top three World Heritage Sites through a Vietnam tour promises an unforgettable journey into the country’s rich cultural and historical tapestry.

Read more about: Mixed heritage sites, cultural heritage sites

As for culture, there were many valuable archaeological shreds of evidence found in Trang An like intact, shells, animal bones, pottery, kitchen tools, stone tools and human remains that proved for the appearance of ancient human over 30,000 years ago. Nowadays, Trang An has its famous with many temples, pagodas and palaces that serves a lot for the spiritual life of Vietnamese.

In term of aesthetic values, the karst tower landscape of Trang An is one of the most magnificent place remaining the rustic beauty in the world. Trang An has a mighty array of cone-shaped rock towers rising from the land and water with narrow incorporate ridges that look like mythical enormous swords surrounded by a hundred wavy streams and green rice paddies spreading out to the horizon.

Last but not least, Trang An also has an outstanding and diverse array of classical karst landforms like depressions (cockpits), valleys (poljes), rockfall collapse structures and deposits, subterranean caverns and rivers, caves and speleothems.