Unique ancient houses in Dam Street

Many old houses with famous signs are still preserved by generations.

In the cultural house of Quang Ich 2 village, we met and listened to the elders in the village tell about the golden age of Dam street associated with the majestic houses of the past. That is, in the early years of the 20th century when Chu River was an important waterway, with the advantage of "first near the road, second near the river", this place was a bustling trading point on the wharf, on the boat. From here, goods could be gathered from the mountains, from the sea, from the North, all kinds of forestry, soil, and seafood products were traded and Dam market in Hoa Binh village was opened around 1838, the 18th year of King Minh Mang, and became increasingly famous. In 1852, the 6th year of King Tu Duc, the market moved to Quang Ich and in 1905, Quang Ich village was officially established. Currently, Quang Ich village is divided into 2 villages: Quang Ich village 1 and Quang Ich village 2.

In the memories of the elderly in the old Quang Ich village, Dam market was held 6 times a month, with buyers and sellers bustling about. The hustle and bustle of this land attracted many people from the country and even foreigners such as China, Thailand... to come here to do business and settle down. Together, they invested in building shops next to each other with many products such as dyeing, weaving, sewing, porcelain, pottery, jewelry, gold, traditional medicine... creating a bustling street day and night.

Mr. Pham Van Cuong (95 years old) in Quang Ich 2 village pensively recalls: "Back then, the people here were very wealthy in business. Even I, who only lived by cutting hair, had enough to feed my whole family. As for the families who did big business, they gave money and gold in butter tubes, lived comfortably, and even built villas in Western architecture."

Through time, war and changes in life, this place no longer has the appearance of the bustling Dam Street of the past, but the ancient Western villas with hundreds of years of age are a living proof of the golden age. The houses with famous signs of the past such as: Tan My dyeing, Nam Ich Long western medicine, Quang Phat traditional medicine... are still there even though the families no longer work in these traditional industries.

Following the elders of Quang Ich 2 village, we visited the ancient villa built by Nguyen Van Hiep's ancestor more than 100 years ago. Despite the vicissitudes of history, the villa is still almost intact with 2 floors, bright red tile roof, baked brick walls, and sturdy ironwood ceiling. Next to Hiep's house is the Nguyen family's ancestral house, the Ngo family's ancestral house, built by Nguyen Quoc Viet's ancestor more than 100 years ago, which also retains the architectural features of the majestic ancient house during its heyday. In the ancestral house, the Nguyen family still preserves many valuable items and relics, including a rosewood bed with delicately carved patterns, a precious relic that the family has kept for many generations despite many people persistently coming to buy it at a high price.

Talking about the architecture of Dam Street, Secretary of the Party Cell of Quang Ich 2 Village Nguyen Xuan Quang said: “Xuan Thien Commune used to have about 100 ancient houses, of which the ancient houses of Dam Street were mainly concentrated in Quang Ich 2 Village, but now there are only 17 houses that remain almost intact according to the old architecture and still retain some household appliances. The ancient houses are interspersed in the residential area, most of them are built with two floors, red tile roofs, the lower floor is separated from the upper floor by thick ironwood, helping the house to be warm in winter and cool in summer”.

However, due to many reasons, many ancient houses here have been degraded over time, destroyed or newly renovated, destroying the architectural style. In particular, two collective houses are seriously degraded due to lack of funds for renovation and restoration. On January 7, 2020, Dam Street was recognized by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee as a provincial-level tourist destination. Next, the old Xuan Thien commune has developed a tourism development project associated with promoting the cultural values of Dam Street's ancient houses and local traditional products for the period 2021-2025, which is a favorable condition for preserving and promoting Dam Street's ancient houses.

Chairman of Tho Lap Commune People's Committee Trinh Duy Tinh said: After being completed and put into operation under the new model, the commune continues to do a good job of propaganda and mobilizing families to preserve the original houses, not destroying the existing architecture. Thereby, aiming to develop tourism associated with preserving and promoting the values of historical relics, ancient houses in the lagoon town; building typical tourism products with prestige and high competitiveness, contributing to preserving and promoting the good traditional cultural values of the locality, creating a driving force for socio -economic development.

Article and photos: Trung Hieu

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/doc-dao-nhung-ngoi-nha-co-o-pho-dam-260492.htm