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Description
Vietnam - August 2008
Hue - The Citadel
Hue - The Citadel
The Imperial City in Huế is a walled fortress and palace in the former capital of Vietnam.
The grounds were surrounded by a wall 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers, and the walls were surrounded by a moat. The water from the moat was taken from the Huong River (Perfume River) that flows through Huế. This structure is called the citadel.
Inside the citadel was the Imperial City, with a perimeter of almost 2.5 kilometers.
Inside the Imperial City was the imperial enclosure called the Purple Forbidden City in Vietnamese, a term that mimics that used by the Chinese for their own Forbidden City. The enclosure was reserved for the Nguyen royal family. Like its Chinese counterpart, Vietnam's Purple Forbidden City included many palaces, gates and courtyards.
The citadel was oriented to face the Huong River to the east. This was different than the Forbidden City in Beijing, which faces south. The Emperor's palace is on the east side of the citadel, nearest the river. A second set of walls and a second moat was constructed around the Emperor's palace. Many more palaces and gates and courtyards and gardens were subsequently added.
The rule of the last Vietnamese Emperor lasted until the mid-1900s. At that time, the Purple Forbidden City had many buildings and hundreds of rooms. It suffered from termite and cyclone damage, but was still very impressive. Many bullet holes left over from the war can be observed on the stone walls.
The American bombing in 1968 in response to a communist takeover of Huế flattened most of the Imperial city. Only a few buildings survived, such as the Thai Hoa Temple, Can Thanh Temple, The Mieu, and Hieu Lam Cac.
The city was made a UNESCO site in 1993. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved. Unfortunately, most of the buildings were destroyed during the Vietnam war.Image size
533x800px 203.31 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 10D
Shutter Speed
1/250 second
Aperture
F/4.0
Focal Length
11 mm
ISO Speed
200
Date Taken
Aug 18, 2008, 3:34:00 AM
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