Hue Imperial City

Hue citadel is situated on the north bank of the perfume river, covering 525 hectares that are enclosed by huge walls. Within these walls lies another small city called Imperial City and again, within that fortification is the Forbidden Purple City or Dai Noi, the residential quarters of the royal family.

Stationed imposingly in front of the Citadel’s main gate is a flog pole, 17.5 meters high, once called King’s Knight. Facing this King’s Knight is the main gate called Ngo Mon (or the Noon Gate) on the southeast wall. This main gate contains three openings with its central one reserved for the emperor himself. On top of the Noon Gate is the Lau Ngu Phung (the Five-phoenix building) where the emperor appeared on national holidays, important religious ceremonies or great events.

From the Noon Gate, we cross the Trung Dao Bridge and reach San Dai Trieu Nghi and Dien Thai Hoa (the palace of Supreme Harmony) where the emperor, sitting on the golden throne, received the salutations or listened to the reports of court mandarins who, according to their ranks, genuflected on the two-level courtyard. The upper level was reserved for the highest ranking mandarins and the lower was used by those of lesser rank. The civil mandarins stood on the left and the military mandarins on the right. This palace was built of wood and set in red lacquer trimmed with gold, and roofed in golden and green tiles.

In front of the magnificent Hien Lam Cac (Hien Lam Belvedere) in the The Mieu (Temples of the Nguyen emperors) compound are nine huge bronze urns which were cast in the nineteenth century. Each urn is about three meters high, representing the exploits and achievements of the nine Nguyen emperors. The central urn is on longer legs and the most ornate, dedicated to Gia Long, the founder of the Nguyen Dynasty. Each urn also has a name and is decorated with relief etchings of traditional designs such as sun, moon, trees, flowers, animals, mountains and rivers on its belly.