The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, and what is under it

The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is Hanoi's UNESCO site, and most visitors walk past it on the way to the mausoleum. What survives above ground is a gate, a terrace and some stone dragons. What it holds is thirteen centuries of the country being governed from the same few hectares.

What is the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long?

The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is the site of the royal palace in Hanoi from 1010. That year the Ly dynasty moved the capital here and named it Thang Long, rising dragon. The capital it moved from the neighbourhood of was older still: Co Loa, 17 km north, was a seat of power thirteen centuries before this one.

Later dynasties rebuilt on the same ground, and UNESCO inscribed it in July 2010 for thirteen centuries of continuous use as a seat of power.

Very little of the palace itself stands. The French demolished most of the citadel in the 1890s, and the Vietnamese army then occupied the grounds for most of the twentieth century. What is open is a fragment: gates, foundations, and the buildings the army left behind.

What does the citadel ticket cost, and when is it open?

The citadel ticket costs about 70,000 dong for an adult, sold at the gate on Hoang Dieu street. The site opens from about 8:00 to 17:00 and closes on Mondays. At roughly 26,000 dong to the US dollar that is under three dollars.

The price has risen in recent years from a much lower figure, so check it at the gate. An evening programme runs on some nights with a guided route and lighting, sold separately and in advance.

What survives inside the citadel walls?

Four things inside the citadel walls are worth the walk, in the order the path takes them. Doan Mon, the southern gate, is the entrance: a brick gatehouse with three arched doors and a pavilion on top. Glass panels set into the ground beside it show the older layers of road below.

Beyond it the Kinh Thien palace terrace holds the foundations of the main throne hall. Two flights of steps rise to it between stone dragons from the fifteenth century, the finest carving on the site. Behind them stands Hau Lau, a smaller pavilion rebuilt in the nineteenth century.

At the far end is Bac Mon, the northern gate, which still carries the marks of shells fired by French warships in 1882. It is outside the main ticketed area, on Phan Dinh Phung street, and free to see from the road.

What is the D67 bunker?

D67 is a low building and an underground shelter inside the citadel grounds, built in 1967 for the high command of the North Vietnamese army. The meeting room above ground keeps its long table, maps and telephones, and a staircase leads down to the reinforced bunker where the command sheltered during American bombing.

The bunker is the most unexpected part of the site and the part most visitors remember. The same ground served as a palace for the Ly kings and a war room in the 1970s, which is exactly what the UNESCO inscription describes. The war sites guide sets it beside Hoa Lo prison and the museums in the south.

What is at 18 Hoang Dieu?

18 Hoang Dieu is the archaeological site across the road from the main entrance, where excavations from 2002 uncovered foundations, wells, drains and roof tiles from the seventh century onward. It was the discovery here that turned the citadel into a World Heritage site.

18 Hoang Dieu is a covered dig rather than a building, with walkways over the trenches and signs dating each layer. An hour is enough, and it is worth it for anyone who has read the panels at Doan Mon and wants to see the evidence.

How does the citadel fit a morning in Ba Dinh?

The citadel fits the second half of a Ba Dinh morning, after the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum closes its doors at about 10:30. The two sit across the road from each other, and the citadel stays open through the afternoon.

The Temple of Literature is a fifteen-minute walk south. The Hanoi Flag Tower from 1812 stands at the southern edge of the citadel in the grounds of the military history museum. The Hanoi things to do page puts all of them in one district.

Is the Imperial Citadel worth visiting?

The Imperial Citadel is worth two hours if you read the panels, and a disappointment if you expect a palace. It is less photogenic than the Temple of Literature and much more interesting as history. It is also the cheapest of the country's UNESCO sites to add to a trip.

The UNESCO sites guide calls it the most skipped of the nine, and the reason is the lack of standing buildings rather than the lack of anything to see. Go on a dry day, since most of the site is open ground.