1. Where Is Ho Dynasty Citadel?
Ho Dynasty Citadel is located in Tay Giai and Xuan Giai villages (belonging to Vinh Tien commune), Dong Mon village (Vinh Long commune), Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. This citadel is about 55 km northwest of Thanh Hoa city and about 150 km southwest of Hanoi capital.
2. How Is Ho Dynasty Citadel Unique?
Ho Dynasty Citadel was the capital of Dai Ngu country, this was the national name of Vietnam during the Ho Dynasty. It is also famous by other names, such as Tay Do Citadel, An Ton Citadel, Tay Kinh Citadel, Tay Giai Citadel. This is one of the most unique stone citadels in Vietnam as well as the world. Currently, the citadel still exists almost intact and has become a famous tourist destination in Thanh Hoa. It attracts a large number of tourists to visit and learn about the history and architecture of Ho Dynasty Citadel.
Ho Dynasty Citadel is a historical architectural work, it was built in the late 14th century and has existed for more than 600 years. In 1962, Ho Dynasty Citadel officially became a national relic. In 2011, this historical relic was recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage.
After hundreds of years of existence, this citadel still retains its ancient beauty. It brings an ancient beauty, standing tall in the middle of a large land in Vinh Loc district. The citadel was built from large stones with gray tones and unique structures, with a breakthrough in craftsmanship in the 14th century. People built it with stone slabs with an average length of 1.5 m to 6 m, stacked on top of each other without adhesives. The space of the citadel and the moat covers an area of up to thousands of hectares, covered with a peaceful green coat of trees and grass.
3. When Is The Best Time To Visit Ho Dynasty Citadel?
Ho Dynasty Citadel is located in Thanh Hoa province, in the North Central region of Vietnam. Therefore, the climate here is characterized by tropical monsoon, with two distinct seasons: rainy season and dry season. The rain season starts from May to October with the characteristics of intense sunshine, heavy rain and frequent storms and floods, with an average temperature of 38 – 40 degrees Celsius. The dry season is from November to April, with the northeast monsoon, little rain, dry weather at the beginning of the season, and the lowest temperature can drop to 2 degrees Celsius.
According to the travel experience of Thanh Hoa by previous tourists, you can come here at any time of the year. However, the ideal time is in the dry season, from September to April of the following year. During this time, the air is cool and pleasant, with light sunshine and little rain. It creates favorable conditions for traveling, sightseeing, exploring and immersing yourself in the atmosphere of traditional festivals. Such as: Cau Ngu Festival, Poon Poong Festival of the Muong people, Song Temple Festival, …
4. How To Get To Ho Dynasty Citadel From Thanh Hoa City?
The distance from Thanh Hoa city to Ho Dynasty Citadel tourist area takes about 1 hour. The traffic infrastructure is quite developed and the road here is quite easy to travel. You can get here by motorbike, private car or taxi and refer to the following route:
Starting from Le Loi Avenue, Thanh Hoa city, you travel along National Highway 1A about 5 km to the West, then you will meet an intersection with National Highway QL45. Here, you turn right onto National Highway QL45 and travel on this road about 40 km to the Northwest, then you will meet an intersection with National Highway QL217. You turn left onto National Highway QL217 and travel about 15 km to the Northwest to reach the Ho Dynasty Citadel tourist site in Vinh Loc district.
5. Opening Hours And Entrance Fees To Ho Dynasty Citadel
5.1 Opening hours:
- Summer: from 7:00 – 17:30.
- Winter: from 7:00 – 17:00.
5.2 Reference entrance fees:
- Adults: 40,000 VND/person/time.
- Children 7 – 12 years old: 20,000 VND/person/time.
6. History Of Ho Dynasty Citadel
At that time, Ho Dynasty Citadel was called Tay Do Citadel, and was assigned by King Tran Nhan Tong to the powerful minister Ho Quy Ly to build in 1397. Ho Quy Ly was also the one who founded the Ho Dynasty in 1400.
The construction of Ho Dynasty Citadel began in the spring of Dinh Suu year. The purpose of building this citadel was to force King Tran Nhan Tong to move the capital from Thang Long to Thanh Hoa, in order to overthrow the Tran Dynasty. In 1400, Ho Quy Ly ascended the throne and took the national name Dai Ngu. Ho Dynasty Citadel officially became the capital of the new dynasty.
7. Unique Architecture Of Ho Dynasty Citadel – A Unique Rampart Construction
Ho Dynasty Citadel was built in just 3 months, then continued to be completed until 1402. This place has a rather rugged terrain with steep mountains and rivers surrounding it. It has both strategic significance in military defense and the advantage of waterway transportation.
7.1. Inner Citadel
The inner citadel is rectangular, 870.5m long in the North – South direction and 883.5m in the East – West direction. The four gates of the citadel are South – North – West – East called Tien – Hau – Ta – Huu. The gates of the inner citadel are all built in the arched style, with stacked stones, and the stone slabs are especially large. Ho Dynasty Citadel has a very high level of stone arch construction techniques. The stone slabs weighing tens of tons were assembled together naturally, without adhesives, and still exist after 600 years.
7.2 Citadel
The citadel is about 90 m wide with a base of 52m wide and a depth of more than 6.5m. To keep the citadel sturdy, the ancients used boulders and crushed stones underneath.
7.3 La Thanh
In front of the Citadel is La Thanh. The current La Thanh is a 6m high earthen citadel, 9.2m wide, steep on the outside, gently sloping on the inside, each step is 1.5m high, and some locations have gravel paved for reinforcement. The entire La Thanh was built based on the natural terrain, creating a majestic natural wall, with the function of protecting the citadel and preventing floods.
7.4 Nam Giao Altar
The Nam Giao Altar was built in the south of the Ho Dynasty citadel, inside the La Thanh with an area of 155.5 hectares. The altar is divided into many floors, of which the central altar floor is 21.7m high. The base of the altar is about 10.5m high. The central altar consists of three walls surrounding each other.
8. Historical Significance And Value Of Ho Dynasty Citadel
In June 2011, Ho Dynasty Citadel was officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. This proves the significance and historical value of the Ho Dynasty Citadel. This is a “unique” stone structure in Vietnam and one of the rare remaining stone citadels in the world. The significance of Ho Dynasty Citadel has great value in terms of architecture, history, culture, and archaeology.
Ho Dynasty Citadel under the Ho Dynasty is the place that marked many special events, witnessed the decisions to comprehensively reform the country in many fields of Ho Quy Ly. This place was also a place for cultural exchange between Vietnam and countries in the East Asia and Southeast Asia regions. It contributes to promoting the exchange of ideas and new trends between Vietnam and countries in the region, …
Ho Dynasty Citadel is like a historical witness, lasting through time, witnessing the changes of the Ho Dynasty and the development stages of the country. Today, this place has become a famous place to visit, learn about history, culture, archaeological relics, …, attracting a large number of tourists.
9. Enjoying Thanh Hoa Specialties When Traveling To Ho Dynasty Citadel
When traveling here, you will not only admire the greatness of this stone citadel with interesting historical stories. But you also have the opportunity to enjoy the specialties of this beautiful land.
9.1 Thanh Hoa Seafood
When traveling to Thanh Hoa, you cannot help but enjoy fresh seafood with famous dishes. Crabs, shrimps, oysters are very diverse. You can enjoy Thanh Hoa seafood at restaurants or buy directly from fishermen in coastal fishing villages.
9.2 Thanh Hoa Rice Rolls
Local people made rice rolls with a secret recipe that cannot be found anywhere else. The cake filling is made from shrimp, pork belly and dried onions on the outside, very attractive. The dipping sauce is mixed from local fish sauce.
9.3 Shrimp cake
Thanh Hoa shrimp cake is a dish that many tourists love and remember forever. The dish impresses with its unique, crispy and fragrant shrimp flavor mixed with sour and spicy fish sauce and a little raw vegetables.
Address of delicious shrimp cake restaurant:
- Ba That shrimp cake: No. 9, Le Thi Hoa, Lam Son ward, Thanh Hoa city, Thanh Hoa.
- Thao Muoi restaurant: No. 14 Nha Tho, Truong Thi ward, Thanh Hoa city.
9.4 Nem chua
You can find Nem chua in many provinces and cities across the country. But this dish in Thanh Hoa will bring you a very different feeling. Thanh Hoa spring rolls have many types such as: long spring rolls, square spring rolls, thin spring rolls or coi spring rolls. With the main ingredients being lean pork, guava leaves, ginseng leaves and spices such as garlic, chili, … The spring rolls are tightly wrapped with delicious crispness, sweet and sour taste and special aroma of leaves and spices.
Address of delicious Thanh Hoa spring roll shops:
- Loi Lam sour spring roll: No. 105, Le Thanh Tong street, Dong Ve ward, Thanh Hoa city.
- Thang Tuyen restaurant: No. 409, Le Hoan, Ba Dinh, Thanh Hoa city.
- Cuong Dung sour spring roll: 15 Tan An, Ngoc Trao ward, Thanh Hoa city.
9.5 Nga Son eel salad
Thanh Hoa eel salad has a very unique and distinctive flavor. People made this dish from the main ingredient of sliced eel meat marinated with spices, mixed with roasted sticky rice powder. Crispy fried fish skin with dipping sauce made from crushed fish bones. They served eel salad with many types of leafy vegetables. Such as: fig leaves, lemon leaves, perilla, basil, mint, pennywort, fish mint.
Address of delicious eel salad restaurant:
- Vu Bao Restaurant: Km 12, National Highway 47, Quang Hong, Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa Province.
- Thich Lich Restaurant: Hamlet 8, Nga Lien, Nga Son, Thanh Hoa Province.
- Cuong Tue Eel Salad: Nga Lien Commune, Nga Son District, Thanh Hoa Province.
10. Accommodation When Traveling To Ho Dynasty Citadel
When traveling here, you can refer to some of the following accommodations:
- Binh Linh Guesthouse. Address: 95 Pho Moi, Vinh Tien, Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa.
- Tuan Tu Guesthouse. Address: 124 Pho Moi, Vinh Loc Town, Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa.
- Hung Thang Guesthouse. Address: Pho Moi, Vinh Loc Town, Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa.
- Tan Nam Thanh Guesthouse. Address: Vinh Tien, Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa.
- Son Binh Guesthouse. Address: Duong Thanh, Vinh Phuc, Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa.
- Muong Thanh Hotel Grand Thanh Hoa. Address: Lot OC1, Vo Nguyen Giap, Nam Urban Area, Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa.
- Kingsales Hotel. Address: No. 165 Pham Thi Ngoc Tran, Dong Huong, Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa.
- Phoenix Hotel. Address: No. 998 Hung Vuong Street, Ward, Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa.
- Melia Vinpearl Thanh Hoa. Address: No. 27 Tran Phu, Dien Bien Ward, Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa.
11. Some Other Famous Tourist Attractions Near Ho Dynasty Citadel
After visiting Ho Dynasty Citadel, you can continue to visit some other Thanh Hoa tourist attractions nearby such as:
11.1 Dong Co Temple:
About 24 minutes from Ho Dynasty Citadel. The temple was ranked at the national level in 2001. Dong Co Temple today still retains its unique architecture and many sacred relics and royal decrees of the dynasties. The temple attracts a large number of tourists to visit, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and worship and pray.
11.2 Yen Trung Tourist Village:
Yen Trung Tourist Village is one of the attractive tourist attractions of Thanh Hoa province. When you come here, you will visit ancient houses, immerse yourself in the space of the ancient countryside. You can also admire the beautiful natural landscape or try your hand at interesting folk games.
11.3 Kim Son scenic spot:
From Ho Dynasty Citadel, it takes about 38 minutes by car to reach Kim Son scenic spot. This place has a beautiful natural landscape with majestic mountain ranges, a system of water caves, majestic dry caves and a small pagoda nestled at the foot of the mountain. Taking a boat on Au stream to admire the charming mountain scenery is an attractive experience that you should not miss when visiting this place.
12. Some Necessary Notes When Traveling To Ho Dynasty Citadel
To make your trip to Ho Dynasty Citadel smooth and enjoyable. You should refer to some notes below:
- Because it has existed for so long, some places in the citadel have shown signs of landslides. People posted these places with warning signs, so do not visit these places to ensure your safety.
- When visiting the citadel, remember to keep the place clean to help protect historical relics.
- Ho Dynasty Citadel is an outdoor tourist destination. Therefore, when coming here, you need to prepare hats, glasses, and jackets to protect against the sun and choose a nice day to visit.
- You should wear light, sweat-absorbent clothes in the summer and a warm jacket in the winter.
- You should bring soft-soled, low-heeled sneakers. Because the sightseeing process is quite a lot.
- Bring drinks and snacks to replenish energy when needed.
The Ho Dynasty Citadel, a renowned and captivating destination in Thanh Hoa, invites you to explore its majestic ancient stone structure and uncover the mysteries behind its construction techniques. This historical gem offers a unique journey through Vietnam’s rich past.
Join Origin Vietnam, a reputable tour operator, for a customized tour Vietnam that includes this fascinating citadel and other beautiful destinations. Let us guide you through unforgettable experiences as you explore this ancient marvel. Book your adventure today!
