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Hue:
Imperial City
Imperial Palace:
The founder of Vietnam, Gia Long (1802 - 1819) of the Nguyen dynasty (1802 - 1945), chose as the base for his seat of power the northern bank of the "Perfumed River", where his family had lived for generations. Gia Long built his own "Forbidden City", a mirror image of the emperor's palace in Peking - China -
The complex is enclosed by seven walls each ten meters (33 feet) in thickness,and by canals and a number of towers. The wall, which encloses an area of six square kilometers (2.3 squares miles), is interrupted by ten gates.
| the Ngo Mon Gate built under Emperor Ming Manh as the main entrance to the south of the palace, has been restored with the help of UNESCO and appears in its original form with the crowing pavilion as the five phoenixes, from which the emperors watched the festivals and ceremonies. After arduous restoration work, the nine tiled roofs, glazed in imperial yellow, gleam above the stone base and the two-story balustrades of wood lacquered in red and yellow. |  Imperial palace - 1833 Ngo Mon gate, Hue. |
 Imperial palace -1833, partial view of Ngo Mon gate, imperial tiled roof, Hue. |
 Imperial palace - 1833, imperial tiled roof of the Ngo Mon gate, Hue. |
Imperial Tombs:
The relics of the Nguyen dynasty that are the most unususal and at the same time the most moving architectural creations are the imperial tombs in the enchanting hills around Hue.
All the tomb complexes consist of five elements: an extensive tiled courtyard with stone figures, saddled horses, elephants, municipal and military mandarins; a pavilion with a stele on which is engraved the life story of the dead person; a temple dedicated to the deceased; the pleasure pavilion for his concubines; and the tomb itself.
| The monument
of the long reigning but unfornute Emperor Tu Duc (1847 - 1883) is an exception,
however, since it has a lake with a pavilion, which was
available as a bathing-house and from which the emperor
went fishing. Even during his own lifetime Tu Duc, a melancoly man, preferred to live in his tomb complex, which was built between 1864 and 1867, rather than in his palace. Unable to conceive a son and heir by any of his 104 wives, he wrote his own epitaph: "Alas! The centuries are fraught with pain, and man is burdened by fear and woe. Thus we express our [my] feelings that they may be known to the world." |
 Gate to the tomb complex of Emperor Tu Duc - 1841 - 1843, Hue. |
| The tomb of
Emperor Minh Mang (1820 - 1840) is architectural the most
striking. Arranged in totally symmetrical fashion on a
sacred axis, known as a shendao, it has an air of great
nobility. The tomb built in 1841 - 1843, is to reached by boat across the "Perfumed River", and is one of the best-preserved of the seven tomb complexes in the Hue area. |
 Tomb complex of Emperor Minh Mang - 1841 - 1843, view of Minh Lau pavilion, Hue. |
 |
Plan of the tomb complex of Emperor Minh Mang |
| Gia Long's tomb complex was completed a year after the emperor's death, and because of its secluded position on a hill above the city it is now seldom visited. the tomb is designed in imitation of the architecture of Chinese Ming tombs; in the immediate vicinity of the emperor's resting-place is a lotus pond with five mandarin figures, today headlness, as well as figures of horses and elephants, guardians of the dead. |  Tomb complex of Emperor Gia Long - 1820, remains of the Elephant Parade, Hue. |