People come to Hue not only to enjoy the romantic and poetic beauty but also to visit the

vestiges of Hue citadel, the ancient royal palace of the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam. Hue
Citadel is a unique and ancient architectural that you should visit when coming to Hue!

Hue citadel was built from 19th century to 20th century and has been recognized as a
World Cultural Heritage since 1993.

Hue Citadel is a cluster of relics including the Imperial Citadel and the Forbidden City.

First, we come to the royal citadel. This area includes Ngo Mon and Thai Hoa Palace.

The Imperial Citadel was built with 4 main gates: Hien Nhon Gate (located in the East),
Chuong Duc Gate (located in the West), Hoa Binh Gate (Northern) and Ngo Mon Gate
(Southern). In particular, the largest and most beautiful main gate is Ngo Mon.

Ngo Mon is a monumental with very elaborate ờ le bờ rịt, sophisticated and solid
patterns. From Ngo Mon can see the Huong River. Ngo Mon has 5 gates, in which the
main door in the middle is used for the king to travel, two auxiliary gates are for the civil
and martial mandarins. The rest is for soldiers with elephants and horses to follow the
king to protect and serve the king.

Thai Hoa Palace is the most important work in the overall Imperial Citadel of Hue, where
along with Dai Trieu Nghi Courtyard used to be the venue for court meetings of the
Nguyen Dynasty.

Second, we come to the forbidden city.

In the Forbidden City, there are more than 50 architectural works of different sizes,
typically Can Chanh Palace, Can Thanh Palace, Thai Binh Lau, Ta Vu & Huu Vu, etc.

In particular, when coming here, visitors will be able to participate in typical festivals,
recreating royal rituals such as the Royal Night, the changing of the guard ceremony , the
performance of the royal court music.

To this day, Hue Citadel still retains quite intact the ancient architectural works of the
Nguyen kings.