Description of the attraction
The construction of the citadel began at the beginning of the 19th century. Initially, the Citadel was built from the ground, but in the first decades of the 19th century. tens of thousands of people worked on the construction of ramparts, built in the style of the French military engineer Vauban. Inside the Citadel is the Imperial City - a kind of copy of the Forbidden City of Beijing.
During the war with the United States, the Citadel and the Imperial City were badly damaged and out of one and a half hundred buildings, only about twenty survived. Partially, reconstruction and restoration of buildings is underway, but much remains in ruins.
The Ngomon Gate leads into the Citadel and has five entrances: the central one for the emperor, two for the royal elephants and two more for the royal mandarin servants. The gate is crowned with a huge Watchtower of Five Phoenixes. Here in 1945 the last emperor of the Nguyen dynasty signed his abdication.
The Kot Ko beacon tower rises above the southern fortifications of the Citadel. Not far from it and the gate of Ngan is the parade square, on which nine bronze cannons are installed - the so-called dynastic cannons. They symbolize the four seasons and the five ritual elements.
