Visit the thousand-year-old ancient village in Gia Vien

Quoc Thanh village, Gia Thang commune, Gia Vien district is an ancient village that is thousands of years old. Despite the changes of time, the village still retains its traditional beauty with many cultural features imbued with the love of the land and people of Gia Vien.

About 15 km from Ninh Binh city center, Gia Thang commune, Gia Vien district is nestled peacefully along the Hoang Long river. This is also a sacred land, the birthplace of Saint Nguyen Minh Khong with the legend "Dai Huu sinh vuong, Diem Duong sinh thanh" famous among the people until now.

On the shady village road, comrade Ta Duc Ba, Chairman of Gia Thang Commune People's Committee shared: Based on legends, steles, and local history books that remain, from the 10th century, villages and hamlets (belonging to Gia Thang today) were formed. After thousands of years with many names in different historical periods, Gia Thang Commune basically still retains three villages: Dao Lam, Quoc Thanh, and Van La. Of which, Quoc Thanh is one of the villages that still retains many nostalgic and unique features to this day.

The first impression when coming to Quoc Thanh village is that the people here still preserve the mossy, ancient walls with a stone gate that is hundreds of years old. In the early morning sunlight, the scene becomes more peaceful, quiet, typical of the Northern countryside.

Visit the thousand-year-old ancient village in Gia Vien — This place also preserves hundreds of years old family churches with unique monolithic stone architecture.

In particular, besides houses with modern architecture, many households in Quoc Thanh also retain the ancient wooden houses left by their fathers and ancestors. This is a unique and outstanding feature that few villages in the district have. According to statistics, the whole village currently has about 400 households, including 30 ancient wooden houses over 100 years old, more than 100 houses have been repaired or built but still retain the wooden houses left by their fathers.

One of them is the house of Mrs. Tran Thi Nu. In the family's five-room wooden house, the unique patterns and carvings are still preserved intact, becoming the pride of each member. Mrs. Nu calculated: "This house was built a long time ago, about 200 years ago. Even though life has changed, we always remember what our ancestors told us, which is to maintain the family's traditions, culture and good traditions."

In addition, among the unique architectural and cultural beauty of the people of Quoc Thanh, it is impossible not to mention the ancient wells. When coming here, visitors can admire not only one but two wells with clear, cool water. Stopping by the well, the long-distance travelers gently let the water bucket swing up, cup their hands to scoop up a handful of water and splash it on their faces, their fatigue seems to be dispelled.

The image of women laughing and talking, washing clothes by the well, children happily jumping into the cool water of their grandmother... The peaceful scene at the well of Quoc Thanh village suddenly makes anyone feel like they are touching the pure memories of their childhood. It is the fairy tale well with the gentle Tam, the nights when mother carried water under the moonlight, the summer noon when father stopped to wash his face, the shadow of the hard-working people reflected in the clear water... Perhaps that is why, through many ups and downs, the people of Quoc Thanh village are still determined to preserve and consider the well as the "treasure" of the village.

In addition to its ancient and unique architecture, Quoc Thanh is also known as a land of respect for teachers and a proud tradition of learning. In recent years, Gia Thang commune has always been a top locality in the district in terms of education quality. In particular, Quoc Thanh village has many students passing the entrance exams to specialized schools, universities, colleges every year, many of whom are Masters, Doctors and even Professors.

Families in the village still maintain the traditional lifestyle and activities of family education. Villagers and each family live in harmony, respect morality and affection. The house has family rules, the village has village rules and obeys national laws. Mr. Pham Van Hai, 82 years old this year, said: "We are proud to be born in the land of Zen Master and famous physician Nguyen Minh Khong. Perhaps because of the influence of Buddhist ideology, his virtuous, noble and extraordinary character, the villagers always try to practice and cultivate themselves in life and study to build their homeland more and more prosperous and beautiful".

Mr. Pham Van Hai's family is also a family with a tradition of studiousness in the locality. His children are all working and holding positions in the education sector. Mr. Hai and his wife are devoted, simple, and passionate former teachers with more than 55 years of Party membership.

Despite its thousands of years of history and its unique historical, architectural and cultural values, preserving and promoting the value of Quoc Thanh ancient village is not easy. Comrade Ta Duc Ba, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said that the rapid urbanization has put many of the village's unique values at risk of being lost, and some construction works are not regularly repaired and are deteriorating.

"We hope to receive attention and support from all levels, sectors, and the District People's Committee in promoting, preserving, and promoting the unique values of Gia Thang ancient villages. In particular, we will orient the locality to exploit the cultural values of ancient villages associated with tourism development; develop traditional crafts such as vermicelli, rice paper..." - the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said.

Minh Hai-Ngoc Linh

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/tham-ngoi-lang-co-nghin-nam-tuoi-o-gia-vien/d20240802084528709.htm