Hello friends. How is your day? Is the job ok?
I am very happy and inspired today to take you on a trip. Today I would like to introduce to you a special place of Thua Thien Hue province, which is also a place that has been recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. I would like to introduce to you An Dinh Palace.
Overview
Bringing in an extremely unique Asian-European architectural interference, An Dinh Palace was built as a magnificent ancient European castle, with traditional royal decorative motifs. This is an architectural work that is completely different from hundreds of relics belonging to the complex of Hue monuments today.
I was retold An Dinh Palace, formerly known as Phung Hoa Palace, is a wooden building located on the banks of the An Cuu River. An Dinh Palace was built by King Dong Khanh for his eldest son - King Khai Dinh - as a private palace to live from when King Khai Dinh was still Crown Prince until the day he ascended the throne.
After the coronation day, in 1917, King Khai Dinh used his own money to start renovating Phung Hoa palace in a modern way, turning the original wooden cover into the most magnificent and magnificent castle in Vietnam at that time. At that time, it was renamed An Dinh Cung. Continuing the tradition from the previous generation, King Khai Dinh handed over his An Dinh palace to Prince Vinh Thuy (later King Bao Dai). After the August Revolution, 1945, King Bao Dai abdicated, along with his family, Queen Nam Phuong, Empress Dowager Tu Cung, and other princes and princesses, moved from Hue Imperial Palace to An Dinh to live here.
Classification
Recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage, An Dinh Palace is a typical representative of the neo-classical school of architecture in Vietnam in the early 20th century. The whole building was built with an area of more than 23,000 square meters, facing south towards the An Cuu river bank. Initially, when it was still intact, the palace had about 10 large and small constructions in concluding a boat dock, main gate, Trung Lap communal house, Khai Tuong floor, Cuu Tu Dai theater, animal cage, lake. Over 100 years and the Due to the destruction of the war, until now, there are only three intact buildings remaining: the main gate, Trung Lap communal house and Khai Tuong floor.
The highlight for the entire architecture of An Dinh palace is the building that is likened to a European castle, named Khai Tuong floor. The floor is located right behind the "screen" of Trung Lap communal house, the main architectural work of the palace. The name "Khai Tuong" was given by King Khai Dinh himself with the meaning of the place where good omens originate.
Khai Tuong Floor has three floors built with new materials in the style of a European castle, on an area of 745m2. The front is elaborately and elaborately decorated with modern Roman-style motifs (Northern Diocese, angels...) interwoven with traditional oriental court motifs.
The most unique feature of Khai Tuong's floor is the hall, which features six decorative murals, vividly and accurately painted with the six mausoleums of the Nguyen kings: from the tomb of the first king Gia Long, in turn. According to the timeline, are the mausoleums of King Minh Mang, King Thieu Tri, King Tu Duc, King Dong Khanh, and the tomb of King Khai Dinh. Particularly, the painting of King Khai Dinh is not the same as today's reality because when he painted King Khai Dinh was still alive, his mausoleum was only on sketches.
I am not allowed to go deep into the palace now because the palace is being repaired. It's a pity that I can't see the interior, but when I hear the description of the palace's keeper, I can also imagine the majesty and magnificence of the interior of the palace.
I followed the guide to the back of the palace to see, there used to be the Cuu Tu Dai theater.
Behind Khai Tuong floor was once a very special work: Cuu Tu Dai theater with an area of 1,150m2, including two floors with a capacity of 500 people. This is the place for performing Tuong and reforming for the royal family under the reign of King Bao Dai. The stage system is located in the middle of the first floor, the grandstand is designed on both floors around the stage, the honor stand on the second floor is dedicated to the king and royal family, the great ministers, the guests. The architecture of this theater is in the architectural style of the Hanoi Opera House, but the interior is similar to Khai Dinh's mausoleum with embossed decoration with porcelain mosaic art. Unfortunately, the Theater was demolished in 1947, leaving only the foundation of the large lawn behind Khai Tuong floor as it is today.
Current situation
In the distance are two rectangular lakes on either side, I have not heard about the legends of these two lakes. Do you want to guess or imagine the purpose of those 2 lakes? At the edge of the lake, there are 2 stone fish that have been badly damaged by time, they look like 2 fish gods guarding the lake. In addition, there are damaged images waiting to be repaired because it is too old and damaged.
Hue is an ideal place for those who love to discover the interesting of Vietnamese history. If one day you have the opportunity to come to Vietnam, please visit Hue to admire the historical works of Vietnam.