Ho's Citadel - The unique building in Vietnam

Built with an average of 1.5 m long slabs, 6m deep, stacked on top of each other without adhesives, over the past 600 years, the wall system of the Ho dynasty wall remains quite intact. .

The Ho Dynasty - Cultural heritage in Vietnam

Geographical location

Nha Ho Citadel is located in the 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), Thanh Hoa Province. This is the capital of Vietnam from 1398 to 1407.

History

The Ho Dynasty was built by Ho Quy Ly - at that time the prime minister under the Tran dynasty - in 1397. When finished, Ho Quy forced King Tran Thuan Tong to leave the capital from Thang Long capital (Hanoi). About Thanh Hoa. In February of the year of Thin Dragon (1400), Ho Quy Ly took the throne to replace Tran and named the country Dai Ngu (1400-1407), the Ho Dynasty became officially the capital. The Ho Dynasty in history also has other names as citadel: An Ton, Tay Do, Tay Kinh, Tay Nhai, Tay Giai.

The Ho Dynasty Citadel is considered the only stone castle left in Southeast Asia and one of the few remaining in the world. On June 27, 2011, in Paris (France), during the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO recognized Nha Ho Citadel as a world cultural heritage.

Cultural values

The Ho Dynasty has met two criteria set out in the 2008 World Heritage Convention. It is criterion 2 'that expresses the important exchange of human values, over a period or inside. Cultural areas of the world, about developments in architecture, technology, sculpture, city planning or landscape design ' and criterion 4 ' are outstanding examples of a type of construction. construction, an architectural or technical complex or landscape illustrating one (or more) stages in human history '.

In the world heritage profile, the Nha Ho Citadel is described as a magnificent building by large stone construction techniques and arts and a combination of unique and unique construction traditions in Vietnam and the region. East Asia and Southeast Asia during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Thanks to the unique construction techniques, the use of sustainable materials, especially large blocks of stone, the Great Lake was preserved. Very good in the natural landscape almost intact. This is one of the few economic monuments not yet affected by urbanization, the landscape and architectural scale are preserved almost intact both on the ground and in the ground in the East region. Asia and Southeast Asia.

According to ancient documents and bibliographies, along with archeology and research of the current situation, the complex of Nha Ho Citadel outside the Citadel and the Citadel, La Thanh also has Nam Giao Sac.

The citadel is built almost square; with circumference 3.508m; area of ​​142.2ha; city ​​walls south - north length 870.5m long; east - west is 883.5m long. The inner city has 4 gates, opened in the middle of the four walls. All the walls and four main gates were built with blue slabs, chiseled, square, neatly stacked together. The stones have an average length of 1.5m, a thickness of 1m, weigh about 15 to 20 tons. The main axis of the citadel is not in the right direction to the north and south, but the gates are still named in four main directions: South gate, North gate, East gate, West gate (also known as: Tien, Hau, Ta, Huu). These gates are built according to the arched architecture. The stones on the door of the door chiseled the grapefruit-shaped shape, stacked on each other. South gate is the main gate, with three gates: the middle door is 5.82m wide, 5.75m high; two side doors 5.45m wide, 5.35m high. The other three gates have only one door, in which the North gate is 5.8 m wide; East gate is 5.9 m wide, 5.4 m high; West gate 5.8 m wide, 5.4 m high. The walls of the city are on average 5-6m high, the highest point is the South gate with 10m height. Scientists have estimated that the entire stone wall accounts for about 25,000m3.

According to the documents, the Citadel has architectural works such as Hoang Nguyen, Cung Tho, Cung Phu, Dong Cung, Dong Thai mieu, Tay Thai shrines . However, at present, the Citadel only has a few left. relics and relics such as the walls, four city gates, vestiges of lakes, dragons of terraces made of stone with very sophisticated sculptures, Thanh Noi's architectural foundation, and Hoa Nhai stone paved roads. Stone balls, rock bullets, ceramics, South gate campus and valuable artifacts that characterize Tran - Ho culture.

The Citadel system is located around the Citadel and connected to the Buoi River through a canal in the southeast corner of the citadel. The citadel has four north stone bridges into the four doors of the Citadel. Today, many parts of the Citadel have been filled up. However, the remains of the Citadel are still clearly visible in the north, east and south of the citadel.

La Citadel is the outermost citadel of Nha Ho Citadel, built to shield the Citadel (Citadel) and the residence of the inhabitants of the city. La Thanh is about 10km long, built based on natural terrain. The Ho Dynasty erected La Citadel by putting earthen and planting bamboo thorns to connect the mountains of Son Son (Vinh Thanh commune), Hac Khuy (Vinh Long commune), Xuan Dai, Trac Phong and Tien Sy (Vinh Ninh commune). , Kim Ngo (Vinh Tien commune), Kim Nguu, Tuong Son (Vinh Quang commune) with two rivers are Buoi river and Ma river. At present, the vestige of La Thanh belongs to the territory of Beo village (Vinh Long commune) with a length of 2,051.9m, height of 5m, a trapezoidal profile with a wide surface of 9.2m, a sincere 37m wide that has been zoned protect.

Nam Giao Esplanade , also known as Nam Giao herd, is an important imperial architecture, built in 1402 in the southwest of Son Son Mountain, located directly on the spiritual path from the south gate overlooking the city. House Ho is about 2.5km to the southeast. Nam Giao herd covers an area of ​​43,000m². The existing ground also shows 5 ground levels with 5 steps. From the highest platform to the lowest platform, the difference is 7.80m. Nam Giao herd is a place where heaven and earth, rain and wind bridge are favorable, peaceful and peaceful, national dynasties are prosperous. In addition, the herd is a place of sacredness of emperors, stars and many other gods. Nam Giao is also a ceremony to thank heaven and earth for the presence of the dynasty, which is considered a royal ceremony. The first Nam Giao ceremony of the Ho dynasty was held in the same year of construction.

At Nha Ho Citadel, in addition to building Nam Giao flock and celebrating the feast of Nham Ngo year (1402), the Ho dynasty's royal dynasty left many historical imprints such as establishing the Xa Tac flock in Dinh Su (1397), organizing two student examinations in the year of Canh Thin (1400) and At Dau (1405). In addition, this period is also associated with remarkable innovations such as reform examination, school expansion, promotion of Nom script, issuance of paper money.