Hue and DMZ

The Imperial Citadel:

The main attraction of Hue is the Imperial Citadel or Kinh Tanh, whose construction was ordered in 1802 by "Gia Long" (who had crowned himself Emperor). Until 1945 this would be (in any case in name) the seat of the government of Vietnam.

The citadel is 10km2 in size and once housed 148 buildings. Because of wars (French and American) and natural causes there are only 20 left and they are restored with  UNESCO money (since 1993). The imperial palace in the city is a replica of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is circled by a high wall and a moat of 30 meters wide and 4 meters deep. You see from far already the flag-tower that looks like a sort of medieval bunker and/or fire-tower. It is the highest of Vietnam with its 37 meters and it was here that the Communist flag the TET offensive demonstrative blew for 3.5 weeks until American troops entered the city. 

The most important part of the citadel is the Imperial Palace complex which is about 2km2 and is also encircled with a high wall. First you walk through the Ngo Mon gate where on the balcony the Emperor appeared at important events; the last was in 1945 when Emperor Bao Dai announced his resignation. Two Lotus ponds follow and the beautiful Thai Hoa palace, completely decorated with wooden ramps and ceiling. Here stands the Imperial throne from which performed in ceremonies, as well as (in) tributes and official receptions.

Unfortunately there is little left of the private palace the forbidden purple city of the Emperor than some ruins. However, there is the beautiful "Imperial" reading room and the Theater. You can also take a look at the "Mandarin-hall" (also restored) there where she prepared ceremonies. Finally, there is the To Mieu temple complex and the Dien Tho residence where the Emperor's women lived.

Thien My Pagoda:

Since 1601 there was a pagoda on this spot on the Perfume river at about 4 km from the current city of Hue. This pagoda Thien My was built in 1844 and, like the citadel, is an important symbol of Hue and Vietnam. The Thap Phuoc Duyen tower consists of 7 floors each containing a Buddha statue in human form.

From the sixties the pagoda is a gathering point of political demonstrations against opponents of Buddhism. Behind the main building is still the "Austin" car that brought the monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon to put himself in flames at the crossroads of the eye of the world. 

Other attractions:

• The Imperial Tombs (Tomb of Minh Mang) - just outside the city.

Before Hue became the Imperial capital of Vietnam, there was the citadel of Phu Xuan, a city about 5 km northwest of the present Hue. From here, South Vietnam was ruled by the lords of Nguyen in the year 1744. The Tay Son rebels would besiege the city and rule for about 15 years; then the city came into the hands of Nguyen Anh who himself was the emperor Gia Long and was the first in a long series of emperors who would rule the country (at least in name) until the end of WWII. In 1885 the then emperor Ham Nghi was advised to protest against French activities in the South China Sea, in the Bay of Tonkin.

This decision was expensive because the French besieged the city and the Vietnamese soldiers were far in the minority. The French won easily and would have needed three days to burn all the documents, books and writings that were in the Imperial library. They took everything they could carry out so that nothing reminded of earlier times. The emperor was also replaced by Dong Khanh who was more positive about French input and influence. The Emperors would rule the country in name but had no idea what was going on outside the walls. 

Once more the city Hue would shock the world; During the TET offensive (Vietnamese New Year), January 1968, during the Vietnam War there was heavy fighting in this city between American marines and the South Vietnamese army on one side and the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army on the other. It was the only city that was occupied by the communists for more than a few days. Since the Americans were occupied in the Khe Sanh in the DMZ zone, the Northerners managed to take the city within 24 hours.

During the occupation of about 3.5 weeks of Hué, the NVA (the North Vietnamese army) carried out mass executions in which about 4000 so-called 'whites' (people suspected of being anti-communist) were killed. Months before the attack began, the Communists began to collect names so it did not take much effort to track down these people - soldiers of the South Vietnamese army, intellectuals, priests, monks, civil servants and wealthy businessmen. When the South Vietnamese could not recapture the city, American troops were deployed to shoot neighborhood after neighbourhood in rubble.

The whole city including the citadel was virtually destroyed by Vietcong rockets, American napalm and South Vietnamese airplane bombs. A famous statement by an American soldier would be; "We had to destroy the city to save it". After the fighting, thousands of bodies were recovered in dozens of mass graves around the stadium of Hué. A total of 10,000 people would die-thousands but also VC and NVA soldiers, 400 South Vietnamese soldiers and 150 US marines. In 1975 the Communists retake the city to stay this time.