Trang An: A place where special values ​​converge

Ninh Binh province is continuing to make many breakthroughs in preserving and promoting values ​​so that the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is worthy of the title of World Heritage.

Dubbed as “Ha Long on land” with nearly 100 beautiful caves, Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is Vietnam’s first mixed heritage site recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site for both cultural and natural criteria. (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, Ninh Binh was recognized as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2014.

This first mixed heritage of Vietnam and Southeast Asia is now not only a green-clean-beautiful world heritage, the main driving force for the socio-economic development of Ninh Binh province, but also a model to inspire and promote the protection and preservation of precious assets of humanity.

Ninh Binh province is continuing to make many breakthroughs in preserving and promoting the value of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex to be worthy of the title of World Heritage.

VNA reporters wrote 3 articles with the theme "Building Trang An Scenic Landscape worthy of World Heritage status."

Lesson 1: A place where special values ​​converge

Ninh Binh is a place of outstanding people, with a long history and culture, and is endowed with many rich and unique natural landscapes.

In particular, Ninh Binh is the only locality in Southeast Asia that owns the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex.

This land has a harmonious combination of amazing natural landscapes with valuable cultural heritages. Currently, Ninh Binh is positioning itself as one of the destinations of safe, friendly and attractive heritage wonders.

Unique and distinctive landscapesThe Trang An scenic complex covers an area of ​​12,252 hectares, an area embracing many particularly important national monuments of Ninh Binh province such as: Trang An Eco-tourism Area, Tam Coc-Bich Dong Tourist Area, Bai Dinh Pagoda, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Special National Monument...

The golden Ngo Dong River welcomes domestic and foreign tourists to visit Tam Coc-Bich Dong (part of the Trang An scenic complex). (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

Linking these areas is the Hoa Lu special-use forest ecosystem, which covers limestone mountains, wetlands, and a system of rivers, lakes, and lagoons. Trang An is not only a place that combines the quintessence of nature but also preserves traces of prehistoric people and rich cultures, interweaving the past and the present.

Tracing geological traces, domestic and international scientists commented that Trang An is special in that for tens of thousands of years, this place was invaded by the sea, transformed many times and raised to become land.

The long-term development of the terrain has created a beautiful landscape, which is a mixture of steep-sided tower mountains in the primeval tropical forest, surrounding the basin, creating a large, deep water-filled valley with many caves and underground streams that can be navigated by boat.

Trang An scenic complex is not only known as a unique and special landscape, but more specifically, Trang An is also a cultural heritage associated with the process of human gathering on this land from tens of thousands of years ago.

Trang An is a prominent site in Southeast Asia and the world with evidence showing how humans interacted with the natural landscape and adapted to significant environmental changes over more than 30 thousand years.

According to Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Khac Su, Institute of Archaeology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the artifacts found during the excavation of more than 30 archaeological sites in the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex area demonstrate the history of human occupation and the process of land and sea use in the face of severe fluctuations in the natural environment from 30 thousand years to the present with 3 stages, linked to the times before, during and after sea level rise.

Not only is it a sacred place with many temples and shrines, Trang An is also the cradle of Vietnamese Buddhism. Going back in history to the Ly Dynasty, National Master Nguyen Minh Khong chose Bai Dinh as a place to practice Buddhism, build a pagoda to practice Buddhism and perform rituals to pray for the salvation of sentient beings, making the Hoa Lu-Bai Dinh area become the center of Buddhism in our country in the 10th century.

With the dedication and construction merit of many generations of Vietnamese people, today, Bai Dinh Pagoda in Gia Sinh Commune, Gia Vien District has an area of ​​700 hectares with many unique and massive Buddhist architectural works, setting records such as the pagoda is the largest spiritual and cultural center in Southeast Asia; the pagoda has the largest gold-plated Buddha statue in Asia; the pagoda has the longest Arhat corridor in Asia; the pagoda has the tallest Buddha relic tower in Asia and the largest bronze Maitreya Buddha statue in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Tan, Deputy Director of Ninh Binh Province Department of Tourism, shared that Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is like a hyphen between the past and the present, between history and landscape as well as between nature and people, creating a connection and harmonious exchange into a sublime landscape and cultural space.

It contains within itself the golden milestones of history and national tradition, the place that sheltered the first capital of Dai Co Viet in the 10th century and was the palace of the Tran Dynasty during the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army in the 13th century.

Along with that are many famous historical and religious relics, all of this blends with unique natural and cultural values ​​to define outstanding global values.

Destination of amazing landscapes

Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is an area that blends nature and culture, including 3 areas: Trang An-Tam Coc-Bich Dong Scenic Landscape, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Special Historical and Cultural Relic and Hoa Lu Special-Use Primitive Forest.

Among them, Trang An-Tam Coc-Bich Dong is a wonder recognized as a special National Monument in 2012.

Tourists visit Bich Dong Pagoda - a historical and cultural relic in the Trang An Tam Coc-Bich Dong Scenic Complex. (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

This scenic area is a combination of two National Monuments: Tam Coc-Bich Dong Scenic Area of ​​350 hectares and Trang An Scenic Area of ​​1,949 hectares with a complex of rivers, caves, temples and pagodas.

Trang An-Tam Coc-Bich Dong scenic area includes 50 dry caves and 50 flooded caves, very diverse in shape and type. Notably, the caves here are often concentrated in clusters, closely related to each other. In each cave, the phenomenon of dissolution and sedimentation of limestone has created a system of colorful and diverse stalactites.

In this area, natural landscapes such as the Ngo Dong River, caves and mountains combine harmoniously with architectural works that demonstrate human talent and ingenuity such as Thai Vi Temple and Bich Dong Pagoda, creating a beautiful and fascinating landscape.

The architecture here is mainly based on cliffs and caves, forming a unified, solid block, making this place known as "The second cave in the South."

Architect Pham Thanh Tung, Chief of Office of the Vietnam Association of Architects, said that the karst tower landscape (limestone tower) of Trang An makes this place likened to a "Ha Long on land" with the magnificent beauty created by the system of multi-shaped mountains reflecting on the winding rivers and streams connecting caves and wild valleys, making this place one of the most beautiful and spectacular areas of its kind in the world.

Blending into the beauty of the karst tower landscape is a thick primeval forest covering the cliffs, majestic mountains, pagodas, temples, and shrines hidden on the cliffs with ancient mossy tiled roofs, creating a simple, discreet cultural element, in harmony with the charming landscape.

The Trang An scenic heritage complex currently has more than 400 relics, including: communal houses, pagodas, temples, shrines, palaces, steles, tombs, palaces, ancient houses...

In particular, there are more than 30 archaeological sites of caves and rock shelters; of which 57 have been identified and ranked: 2 Special National Sites, 21 National Sites and 36 Provincial Sites.

Professor, Doctor Do Hau, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, said that this is a land with spectacular natural landscapes that nature has skillfully created with a harmonious combination of natural elements: forests, mountains, caves, fields, and rivers.

The successive limestone mountain ranges, combined with rivers and streams, create a vivid and fascinating landscape interspersed with mountain scenery, villages, hamlets and historical relics.

Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is a dual heritage in the national and world heritage system, bearing the strong identity of Vietnamese natural landscape and culture, containing many values ​​in terms of landscape architecture space./.

Thuy Dung

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trang-an-noi-hoi-tu-nhung-gia-tri-dac-biet-post969914.vnp