CITADEL OF THE HOTELS

Some 150 km south of Hanoi and 50 km northwest of Thanh Hoa, in the territory of the two communes of Vinh Tiên and Vinh Lôc. It is the former capital of the Hô dynasty (1400-1407), named Tay Do, of a country renamed Dai Ngu (Great Peace). It is the largest stone citadel in Southeast Asia. It is also one of the best preserved. Its location has been chosen according to geomantic principles in a landscape of great scenic beauty, between the rivers Ma and Buoi, in the Vinh Lôc district. There are remains of the ancient citadel built in 1397, during the reign of Ho Quy Ly (1337-1406), founder of the dynasty and usurper of the throne of the Trân. While all Vietnamese fortresses were built of earth, this one, under the direction of Dô Tinh, used granite blocks that form 5 to 6 m high ramparts surrounded by deep moats. The 2.2 m x 1.2 m x 1.5 m stone blocks, each weighing 10 tonnes, were allegedly assembled with a plant-based binder made from sugar cane bagasse. The citadel of the Hô dynasty, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. On 27 June 2011, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed the Citadel of the Hoh Dynasty on the World Heritage List.

"The property bears witness to important exchanges of values marked by the influence of Chinese Confucianism on a symbol of centralized regal power in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It represents new developments in architectural style, technology and town planning in a context specific to East and South-East Asia, makes full use of the natural environment and integrates distinctly Vietnamese, but also East and South-East Asian elements, in its monuments and townscape.

"It is an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble in a landscape setting that illustrates the flourishing of pragmatic neo-Confucianism in Viet Nam in the late 14th century, at a time when it spread throughout the Far East and became a major philosophical influence on the government of the region. The use of large blocks of stone bears witness to the organizational power of the Neo-Confucian state, reflects the exchange of building techniques in the South-East Asian region, and the displacement of the main axis distinguishes the layout of the Citadel from the Chinese norm. »

Source: Unesco website. World Heritage Convention.