Story
The story of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
Construction of the Imperial Citadel began in 1010 under Emperor Lý Thái Tổ, and it remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1789, when the Tây Sơn dynasty moved the capital to Huế. It was laid out in three rings: an outer defensive wall, the Imperial City, and at the heart the Forbidden City. In 1805 Gia Long rebuilt the old citadel, giving its outer wall the French Vauban style.
Under French rule most of it was demolished to make room for offices and barracks; only the North Gate and the Flag Tower survived. In mid-1945 the Japanese army held over 4000 French colonial soldiers here. Major archaeological discoveries were made in 2002–2004, and when Ba Đình Hall at 18 Hoàng Diệu Street was torn down in 2008, foundations of the Imperial City came to light.
On July 31, 2010, the Central Sector was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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