Explore Huế

Trường Tiền Bridge is a 403 m steel road bridge across the Perfume River in central Huế, linking the citadel side with the southern bank. Built by Schneider et Cie and opened in 1900, it was rebuilt by the Eiffel company in 1937–1939 and again in 1991–1995; its six arched spans of 67 m are lit in changing colours at night.

The Huế Museum of Royal Fine Arts shows objects of the Nguyễn court in Long An Palace, a wooden hall built in 1845 under Emperor Thiệu Trị and re-erected on its present site in 1909. Founded in 1923, the museum keeps about 9,000 royal objects, among them gold, porcelain, Huế enamel, court costume and furniture, with bronze cannons in the garden.

The Imperial City of Huế is the walled royal enclosure inside the citadel of Huế, capital of the Nguyễn dynasty. Begun under Emperor Gia Long in 1804 and enlarged by 1833, it holds palaces, temples, gardens and gates such as the Ngọ Môn. Heavily damaged in the Indochina Wars, it is part of the Complex of Huế Monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is being restored.

The Esplanade of Sacrifice to the Heaven and Earth, Đàn Nam Giao, is the altar where the Nguyễn emperors prayed to Heaven and Earth, in a pine wood about 3 km south of Huế's citadel. Begun in 1806, it has a round upper terrace for Heaven above two square ones for Earth; the last imperial rite was held in 1945, and the ceremony is restaged at the Huế Festival.

The Tomb of Tự Đức, officially Khiêm Lăng, is the mausoleum complex of the Nguyễn emperor Tự Đức in a pine-wooded valley south-west of Huế. Built from 1864 to 1867, it also served as his retreat: pavilions stand on the Lưu Khiêm lake, and a temple area, a large inscribed stele and the tomb enclosure follow behind.

Thiên Mụ Temple is a Buddhist temple on Hà Khê hill above the north bank of the Perfume River, about 5 km upstream of Huế's citadel. Founded in 1601 by the Nguyễn lord Nguyễn Hoàng, it is marked by the seven-storey Phước Duyên tower of 1844; the grounds hold a bronze bell cast in 1710 and the car that drove Thích Quảng Đức in 1963.

The Tomb of Khải Định, officially Ứng Lăng, is the mausoleum of the twelfth Nguyễn emperor on Châu Chữ hill, about 10 km south of central Huế. Built from 1920 to 1931 largely of concrete, it mixes Vietnamese and European styles: a long stairway, a court of stone mandarins, a stele pavilion and the Thiên Định palace, whose interior is covered in glass and porcelain mosaics.

The Tomb of Minh Mạng, officially Hiếu Lăng, is the mausoleum of the second Nguyễn emperor on Cẩm Kê hill, about 12 km from central Huế near the confluence that forms the Perfume River. Built from 1840 to 1843, its gates, courtyards, temple and Minh Lâu pavilion line an axis of some 700 m between lotus lakes up to the walled burial mound.

The Tomb of Gia Long, officially Thiên Thọ Lăng, is the burial site of the founder of the Nguyễn dynasty, in hill country about 20 km south of Huế. Begun for Empress Thừa Thiên after her death in 1814, it holds the twin stone tombs of the emperor and empress, a stele pavilion and the Minh Thành temple beside a lake; parts of it are damaged.