Explore Hanoi

Hỏa Lò Prison was built by the French colonial administration in 1896 as the Maison Centrale, where mainly Vietnamese political prisoners were held. During the Vietnam War it held American prisoners of war, who called it the 'Hanoi Hilton'. Most of it was demolished in 1993–1994; the remaining gatehouse section is a museum of cells, documents and objects.

The Temple of Literature is a temple to Confucius in Hanoi, founded in 1070 under Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. From 1076 it housed the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university. Five walled courtyards lead past the Khuê Văn Các pavilion to stone stelae that list the doctoral laureates of the imperial examinations.

The Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts occupies a 1930s French colonial building opposite the Temple of Literature, built as a boarding house for daughters of French officials and later given Vietnamese decorative details. Opened in 1966, it shows Vietnamese art from prehistory to the 20th century: sculpture, ceramics, folk prints, lacquer and silk painting.

The Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long in Hanoi was the seat of Vietnam's rulers from 1010, when Emperor Lý Thái Tổ founded it, until 1789. The French demolished most of it; visitors see the Đoan Môn gate, the Kính Thiên palace terrace and excavated foundations of earlier palaces. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Vietnam National Museum of History traces the country's past from prehistory to the founding of the Democratic Republic in 1945. Its main building at 1 Tràng Tiền, designed by Ernest Hébrard and completed in 1932 for the French School of the Far East, shows Đông Sơn bronze drums, Champa sculpture and stakes from the Bạch Đằng battles.