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The City of Hue in Central Vietnam is the former capital of the country, built within the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty which lasted from 1802 until 1945. Nguyen Phuc Anh was the first to take control of Vietnam and unify it as one country, beginning the Nguyen Dynasty and proclaiming himself Emperor Gia Long. He decided to build his capital in the center of the country on the banks of Song Huong (The Perfume River).
The Imperial Citadel is magnificent, with defensive walls 2 kilometres long and 2 metres thick, including forts and ramparts all surrounded by a wide moat. Within these walls, the Imperial Palace was built as a citadel within the citadel, with another moat and set of walls surrounding it. Again, within the palace walls was another walled enclosure known as the Purple Forbidden City, which was home to the Imperial Family. Only eunuchs were allowed inside these walls with the Emperor and his family.
The entire city was completed by 1833 and remained in all of its magnificence until 1968 when it was all but destroyed by American bombing during the Battle of Hue in the Vietnam War. Luckily, the Imperial City of Hue is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is being slowly and carefully restored to it’s former magnificence using traditional building materials.
When I travelled to Hue, I spent a day exploring the Imperial Citadel and was quite impressed with their progress. Many buildings have been beautifully restored and the work is still continuing. I hope that you enjoy this photo journey through the Imperial Citadel of Hue.
View of the moat and Flag Tower – The central fort of the wall facing the river
Entering through one of the gates in the citadel walls
Ngo Mon Gate – The central gate into the Imperial Palace Enclosure. This gate was used by the Emperor and is currently in the process of restoration.
Thai Hoa – The Palace of Supreme Harmony, often used for the Imperial Court and ceremonies
A dragon statue behind Thai Hoa with the walls of the Purple Forbidden City in the distance.
Beautiful artwork in of one of the buildings
A restored building in the Purple Forbidden City
Beautiful walkway
Some ruins inside the Purple Forbidden City
An old cannon on display
Gardens in the Purple Forbidden City
A gazebo in the gardens of the Purple Forbidden City
The theatre inside the Purple Forbidden City
One of the gates to the To Mieu Temple Complex
A shrine inside The Mieu Temple
Hien Lam Pavillion
If you are going to visit the Imperial Citadel in Hue, I recommend getting a guide of some sort as the citadel is quite large and I found that I was often wandering around aimlessly and not knowing if I was seeing all of the most important sites. There also isn’t a lot of information around so I often found that I didn’t even know what I was looking at. Hopefully when the restoration is complete in a few years time they will put up some more signs at each of the buildings to tell you more about them. Either way, the Imperial Citadel in Hue is a must see if you are visiting Vietnam, and also make sure to set aside some time to visit some of the nearby tombs of the Emperors, which I will cover in a future post.
Everything looks great and I want to see the palace once it’s fully restored.
Thanks for touring me in the Imperial Citadel. 🙂
This seems so historied, and you have got some good shot.
[…] PluginWhen I travelled to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam, the first thing I did was visit the old Imperial Citadel of the Nguyen Dynasty, which ruled the country between 1802 and […]
Nice composition on that second photo.
Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Asian soul food (my most anticipated meal in Charleston)
Thanks, Stephanie!
[…] biggest draw card to Hue is the Imperial Citadel where the Emperors ruled the country from around 1805 until 1945. The huge exterior walls equipped […]