Nearly 50 billion VND to restore and embellish the West side of Hue Citadel

On March 21, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center announced that it had just started the project to restore and embellish the upper citadel, the waist, the stone embankment, and the moat from Quan Tuong Dai to the west of Thanh Thuy Quan with a budget of more than 49.3 billion VND.

This is a project under the Monument Restoration and Rehabilitation Component of the project “Preservation, Restoration and Rehabilitation of the Hue Citadel System” - a key project of the locality, with a total cost of over VND 2,558 billion. The Monument Restoration and Rehabilitation Component alone has a cost of over VND 497 billion.

The West side of Hue Citadel is undergoing restoration activities. Photo: VH

To carry out this project, the unit will carry out renovations in the western area of ​​Hue Citadel, in Thuan Hoa ward, Phu Xuan district.

In which, the restoration of the Upper Citadel with a length of 892m, width of 21m with the main plan is to dig and fill the land, make a walking path and artillery base with Bat Trang tiles; the remaining land is planted with clover, and the damaged and cracked walls are repaired and reinforced.

Restoring the Tay An and Tay Trinh estuaries with plans to dig, level the land, build and repair artillery ramps, retaining walls with boulders, restore ammunition depots, plant clover, and pave roads with Bat Trang bricks.

With the Citadel Moat, the inner stone embankment will be renovated and embellished, from Quan Tuong Dai to Tay Thanh Thuy Quan with a length of 1,159m.

The damaged and eroded embankment will be dismantled, sorted, cleaned, and old rocks will be gathered to be used for the restoration of the outer and upper surfaces of the embankment. The good embankment will be retained and the foundation will be reinforced, ensuring sufficient load-bearing capacity.

The foundation reinforcement of the embankment will be carried out by using bamboo piles, pouring reinforced concrete, and building and restoring the stone embankment with rubble. The trench will be built with a cofferdam, water will be pumped out, the flow will be diverted, and mud and waste will be dredged.

Before carrying out this project, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center had completed the restoration of the southern side and part of the eastern side. After the households living around the citadel moat in the north of the Hue Citadel are cleared, the unit will continue to restore and embellish to restore the complete appearance of the ancient Hue Citadel.

Hue Citadel is the citadel in the ancient capital of Hue, the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty for 140 years from 1805 to 1945. Currently, Hue Citadel is one of the relics belonging to the complex of Hue monuments recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage.

This architectural complex uses Ngu Binh mountain as a screen and uses two small islands on the Huong River, Con Hen and Da Vien, as two feng shui elements of dragons and tigers (on the left, Thanh Long, on the right, Bach Ho) to protect the ancient capital.

Hue Citadel seen from Ngo Mon Gate. Photo: Nguyen Phuc Bao Minh

Hue Citadel was built by King Gia Long in 1805 and later completed by King Minh Mang in 1832. Here, the Nguyen Dynasty kings built many citadels, palaces and royal works. After nearly 200 years, the current citadel is still almost intact with nearly 140 large and small constructions.

The citadel is square with a perimeter of 10km, 6.6m high, 21m thick, and has 10 gates for entry and exit. Around and right on the citadel, there are 24 fortresses for defense. In addition, there is a side gate connecting to Tran Binh Dai called Thai Binh Mon.

The Vu