The silence of Ho Dynasty Citadel

The Ho Dynasty Citadel seems to be a world cultural heritage with a "hidden" advantage. Although the construction technique of the citadel is very special, it is difficult to tell a story to attract the public.

Silence is not golden

The Ho Dynasty Citadel became a world cultural heritage in 2011 with outstanding global value: both an imperial architecture symbolizing royal power and a majestic military fortress. Here, there is a demonstration of the unique large stone construction technique of Vietnam combined with the construction art of East Asia and Southeast Asia. A continuous manual technical system from quarrying, processing stone, transporting stone blocks weighing from 10 to 26 tons, processing stone foundations, lifting large stone blocks to a height of over 10 m, has ensured both the function and aesthetics of the capital.

The south gate of Ho Dynasty Citadel. PHOTO: MINH HAI

"However, many people who only look at the image of the stone wall will find it difficult to imagine the greatness of the citadel and the unparalleled and wonderful techniques of the ancients," said Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin, Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association. In 2021, Professor Pham Mai Hung, former Director of the Revolutionary Museum, assessed the Ho Dynasty Citadel as the UNESCO cultural heritage with the lowest ticket sales among the listed domestic heritages.

Therefore, the Ho Dynasty Citadel is a heritage that needs more stories to be told in order to become closer to the public. The archaeological excavations that are carried out continuously have the task of further deciphering the ground plan, the short-lived Ho Dynasty in history, and the connection between this dynasty and related dynasties on the same architectural plan.

The foundation was discovered at the Ho Dynasty Citadel. PHOTO: INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY

The largest excavation with an area of ​​25,000 m2 ⁱⁿ 2021 has brought valuable insights into this stone citadel. Accordingly, many Tran - Ho Dynasty architectures were found in excavation pits in the central area (King's Platform). The traces of many gates and corridors surrounding the large northern architectures connecting to each other show that the excavation area could be the central space, the main hall space of the Ho Dynasty Citadel. Many researchers such as Associate Professor - Dr. Tong Trung Tin, Professor Pham Mai Hung, Associate Professor - Dr. Dang Van Bai (Vice Chairman of the National Heritage Council) all think about restoring the main hall of the Ho Dynasty Citadel, along with the display of related artifacts. However, this will be a story for many years to come, after the research is completed.

Telling stories from life and technology

While the stone wall has very few words, the Ho Dynasty Citadel can tell stories from the simulated visualization of the heritage, or the story of life in the citadel. This requires the support of technology to create vivid images. "It is possible to make short films and clips showing the process of building the stone wall of the Ho Dynasty Citadel. These may be just hypotheses and many such videos will be needed, but that will help make history easier to visualize," a cultural tourism expert shared.

Royal imprints on architectural materials at Ho Dynasty Citadel. PHOTO: INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY

Another way that can be applied is to make videos describing the process of making artifacts found in Ho Dynasty Citadel. In Ho Dynasty Citadel, many terracotta and stone artifacts with dragon and phoenix motifs have been found. This reveals the royal life here. Although not intact, recreating the remaining parts through animation is completely feasible. This is also the method that Thang Long Imperial Citadel has done with many archaeological artifacts.

The Ho Dynasty Citadel is also connected to impressive tourist attractions. For example, the ancient house of Mr. Pham Ngoc Tung's family is made of precious woods such as lim, sen, tau, and is carved with vivid four sacred animals and four seasons. The house is located only about 200 meters from the west gate of the citadel, attracting many visitors and is considered one of the typical ancient folk houses in Vietnam.

Currently, the Ho Dynasty Citadel tour has products such as: the agricultural cultural space of the Tay Do region, the space displaying models of cannons and reforms of the Ho Dynasty, the space displaying the stone of the citadel... The common point of these products is to combine the heritage of the Ho Dynasty Citadel with the surrounding areas to tell the story of a land. (continued)

Mr. Nguyen Ba Linh, Director of the Ho Dynasty Citadel Conservation Center (Thanh Hoa) admitted that compared to other world heritage sites in the country, Ho Dynasty Citadel is considered "poor" in attracting tourists. Mr. Linh cited that in 2023, this heritage only welcomed 200,000 visitors, in 2024 it was 250,000, and in the first 6 months of 2025 it welcomed 140,000 visitors. Mr. Linh added that recently, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa has submitted a document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requesting to implement the largest value project ever in Ho Dynasty Citadel, with a total investment of more than 745 billion VND, to preserve the heritage and further promote the value of the heritage for the tourism industry.

Specifically, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa has developed a project to preserve, renovate, restore, and embellish a number of construction items in the inner area of ​​Ho Dynasty Citadel, including: renovating and preserving the Hoang Nguyen Palace foundation and the east-west foundation of Thai Mieu; renovating and restoring the southern moat and Hoang Gia road; renovating and waterproofing the South gate; embellishing the landscape and building technical infrastructure in the heritage area. If approved by the authorities, the project will be implemented in the period of 2025 - 2028, with the goal of both preserving the heritage and developing tourism and socio-economics of Thanh Hoa province; soon making Ho Dynasty Citadel a key national and regional tourist attraction.

Minh Hai

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/su-im-lang-cua-toa-thanh-nha-ho-185250905222737541.htm