New discoveries found after Ho Dynasty Citadel excavation
The Institute of Archaeology and the Centre for Conservation of World Heritage Citadel of the Ho Dynasty held a conference on March 4 to report preliminary findings of excavation of four gates of the citadel.
Thanh Hoa (VNA) – The Institute of Archaeology and the Centre forConservation of World Heritage Citadel of the Ho Dynasty held a conference onMarch 4 to report preliminary findings of excavation of four gates of thecitadel.
The Citadel of the Ho Dynasty was built in 1397 as the capital of Dai Ngu (thename of Vietnam at that time), now Vinh Loc district, the central province ofThanh Hoa. It is unique for its outstanding construction technique which usedlarge rock slabs, weighing from 10 to 26 tonnes each, carefullyshaped, interlocked and elevated to an altitude of about 10 metres.
The citadel served as a military stronghold to protect thecountry from invasion, thus becoming a symbol of patriotism and national pride,and a witness of Vietnamese history during the late 14th and early 15thcentury. For the past six centuries, however, the forces of nature took itstoll on the site. It was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in2011.
Recently, excavations have been conducted on a total area of5,000 sq.m, including 2,000 sq.m each at the northern and southern gates, and500 sq.m each at the eastern and western gates, and the Royal Path of thecitadel.
Excavation efforts initially identified the appearance ofthe world cultural heritage at the gate and wall areas. The overallarchitecture of the Ho Dynasty Citadel is distributed into many horizontal andvertical layers, all of which are symmetrical about the Royal Path. Thestructure of the three walls on the East, South, and West are similar in sizeand slab interlocking techniques. Meanwhile, the stone layers in the wall andthe northern gate are smaller in size, with larger joints, and there are also morerows of stones.
The excavation clearly revealed the vestiges of the Royal Pathin the inner part of the citadel with traces of green stone embankment andslate at the middle of the southern gate.
Traces of a road with one 4.65m-wide lane and a 16m-widelane have been unearthed.
The recent excavation also found some types of rectangular bricksdecorated with leaf pattens from the Tran - Ho dynasties, flat tiles and gray curvedtiles in the Le dynasty, and ceramic pieces from these dynasties./.
Ho Dynasty Citadel, also known as Tay Do citadel, in Vinh Long and Vinh Tien communes, Vinh Loc district, the central province of Thanh Hoa province is one of the most unique stone architectures of Vietnam and the world.
A citadel from the Ho Dynasty, located in Vinh Loc district of Thanh Hoa province, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO in 2011 due to its huge stone walls, which are a unique architectural construction in Vietnam and neighbouring countries.
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East Gate of Ho Dynasty Citadel (Photo: VNA) 
