Imperial City of Hue

The Imperial City is the walled citadel of the Nguyen emperors, who ruled from here from 1802 until 1945. Much of it was destroyed in 1968 and the restoration is still going, so you walk between finished halls and open foundations.

Overview

It was laid out on the model of Beijing’s Forbidden City, with an outer citadel, an imperial enclosure and a purple forbidden city for the emperor’s household, and the Perfume River in front of it as required by geomancy. Of the 160-odd major buildings, fewer than twenty survived the battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive intact. UNESCO listing in 1993 began the reconstruction that has since brought back the Thai Hoa palace, the theatre and the reading pavilion.

Highlights

Allow three hours; the site is 6 square kilometres and mostly unshaded. Go early or late in the day for both heat and light. The restored Royal Theatre puts on short performances of court music, which is a UNESCO intangible heritage form and genuinely worth sitting through.

Overview

Highlights

Location