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AsiaTripFacts

History in Vietnam

Sights

Sights with a page of their own, with hours and fees from official sources. Not ranked.

The facts

  • The bronze statue of King Ly Thai To, who made the city his capital as Thang Long in 1010, holding a scroll by Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi
    Image: William Whyte / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

    Hanoi

    Hanoi has gone by several names: Thang Long, ascending dragon, when the Ly king made it his capital in 1010, Dong Kinh from 1428, and Ha Noi since 1831.

    Ly Thai To moved his court to the old Dai La Citadel. In 1802 the Nguyen dynasty moved the national capital south to Hue, and Minh Mang gave the city its present name. The French made it the capital of French Indochina in 1902, and on 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence here.

    Source: Wikipedia, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.

  • The stone gateway to the temple of Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang at Hoa Lu, with a steep limestone peak rising behind it
    Image: Richard Mortel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

    Ninh Binh

    Before Hanoi, Vietnam's capital was Hoa Lu, from 968 to 1010, tucked into a valley where steep limestone peaks did the job of city walls.

    Dinh Bo Linh founded the kingdom of Dai Co Viet here in 968. The capital covered 300 hectares, with inner and outer citadels and earthen walls between the mountains. In 1010 Ly Cong Uan moved the court to Thang Long, now Hanoi. The citadel is gone, but temples to the emperors Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh still stand.

    Visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

    Source: Wikipedia, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. Checked October 2026.

  • Ngo Mon, the main gate of Hue's Imperial City, with its tiered roof pavilion above a stone base and visitors on the bridge
    Image: Chainwit. / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

    Hue

    Hue was Vietnam's imperial capital from 1802 until 30 August 1945, when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated at the Meridian Gate and handed over the royal seal and sword.

    Bao Dai had been enthroned at 12, in 1926, and was known as a playboy and a car enthusiast. After reading the abdication before thousands of people, he became plain citizen Vinh Thuy, ending the Nguyen dynasty that had built the citadel you walk through today. He died in Paris in 1997 and is buried at Passy Cemetery.

    Visit Hue Imperial City

    Source: Wikipedia, Bao Dai, Wikipedia, Hue. Checked October 2026.

  • The brick Canh Tien tower, which stands in the old Cha Ban citadel of Vijaya, with its arched doorway under a blue sky
    Image: Ms Sarah Welch / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

    Quy Nhon

    Vijaya, the Champa capital, stood in what is now An Nhon, in Binh Dinh province, the same province as Quy Nhon. It was the capital from 938 until Dai Viet conquered it in 1471.

    Vijaya is Sanskrit for victorious, and the city was also known as Vijayapura. The area was probably an early landfall of the Cham people in what is now Vietnam, but its architecture implies it did not become important until the 11th or 12th century. The Vietnamese attacked its citadel in 1069.

    Source: Wikipedia, Vijaya (Champa). Checked October 2026.

  • A sandstone stele from Po Nagar covered in lines of carved Cham script, displayed in a museum
    Image: Gary Todd / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

    Nha Trang

    A stele dated 781 at Po Nagar records King Satyavarman restoring the temple after foreign raiders damaged it; other steles say they came by ship, perhaps from Java.

    Those steles add that the raiders stole the temple's jewellery and broke its linga. The temple stands near Nha Trang, in what was the Cham principality of Kauthara, and is dedicated to the goddess of the country. Its main tower is about 25 m high, and inside sits a 1.2 m stone goddess, cross-legged, with ten hands holding symbolic objects.

    Source: Wikipedia, Po Nagar. Checked October 2026.

  • Long single storey cell blocks lining a courtyard at Con Dao Prison
    Image: Tycho / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

    Con Dao

    For over a century Con Dao was a prison island: the French opened its jail in 1861, and it held political prisoners until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

    The French ran it until 1954, when South Vietnam took over and kept using it for the same purpose. It was once dubbed hell on earth. Opposite Pier 914, the Con Dao Museum holds more than 2,000 exhibits, and the Governor's Palace, home to 53 prison chiefs, is now seen as a living museum.

    Source: Wikipedia, Con Dao Prison, VnExpress International, Con Dao travel guide. Checked October 2026.

  • Tank No. 390 on display under the trees in the grounds of the Independence Palace
    Image: 源義信 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

    Ho Chi Minh City

    On 30 April 1975 two tanks reached the Independence Palace: No. 843 got stuck in a side gate, so No. 390 smashed through the main gate, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

    Both tanks are now national treasures kept in military museums in Hanoi, and replicas stand in the palace grounds. Tank 390's commander was Captain Vu Dang Toan. Bui Quang Than, commander of tank 843, went into the building and raised the flag of the National Liberation Front over it at 11:30 that morning.

    Source: Viet Nam News, Unfolding a historic moment, Independence Palace, Vietnam: The Ballad of Victory exhibition, VOV World, Historic tank 390, VOV World, Vietnam Military History Museum glorifies national defense tradition, Wikipedia, Independence Palace. Checked October 2026.

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