In
April 2014 we had a quick weekend to visit Hanoi Vietnam. There was a lot to see in a little time. What struck me about Hanoi was how much of the lovely colonial architecture has really fallen into disrepair, but even so the city had a lot of energy. There is a lot of rich culture and history on display. Here is a bit of what we saw.
The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (
Vietnamese: Hoàng thành Thăng Long) is the cultural complex comprising the royal enclosure first built during the
Lý Dynasty and subsequently expanded by the
Trần,
Lê and finally the
Nguyễn Dynasty. The ruins roughly coincide with the
Hanoi Citadel today.
The royal palaces and most of the structures in Thang Long were in varying states of disrepair by the late 19th century with the upheaval of the French conquest of Hanoi. By the 20th century many of the remaining structures were torn down. Only in the 21st century are the ruin foundations of Thang Long Imperial City systematically excavated.
TheTemple of Literature is a rare example of well-preserved traditional Vietnamese architecture. Founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, the temple is dedicated to Confucius (Khong Tu) and honors Vietnam’s finest scholars and men of literary accomplishment. Vietnam’s first university was established here in 1076.
Water puppetry (
Vietnamese: Nước rối múa, lit. "
puppets that dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the
Red River Delta area of northern
Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.
The puppets are made out of wood and then
lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.
Street Scenes
The Hỏa Lò Prison was a
prison used by the
French colonists in
Vietnam for
political prisoners, and later by
North Vietnam for
prisoners of war during the
Vietnam War when it was sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton". The prison was demolished during the 1990s, though the gatehouse remains as a museum.
Ho Chih Minh Mauseleum
Legend claims in the mid-15th century Heaven sent Emperor Le Thai To (Le Loi) a magical sword which he used to drive the Chinese from Vietnam. After the war a giant golden turtle grabbed the sword and disappeared into the depths to restore the sword to its divine owners, inspiring the name Ho Hoan Kiem (Lake of the Restored Sword)
The One Pillar Pagoda (
Vietnamese: Chùa Một Cột, formally Diên Hựu tự 延祐寺 or Liên Hoa Đài 蓮花臺) is a historic
Buddhist temple in
Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It is regarded alongside the
Perfume Temple, as one of Vietnam's two most iconic temples. The temple was built by Emperor
Lý Thái Tông, who ruled from 1028 to 1054.
