Discovering the beauty of the mausoleums in Hue

Almost 80 years ago, a Westerner, his name is Ph. Eberhard who wrote:"Hue is an attractive tourist center where has Royal Citadel and mausoleums, an attractive and special attention for visitors and artists. Only mausoleums of Nguyen emperors is valuable enough for tour", according to general opinion: mausoleums in Hue is more beautiful than mausoleums of Minh dynasty in China.


Most of the mausoleums were built when the kings were on the throne. Most of manpower, material and capability of the king were poured out for many years to implement. Artistic idea was given by the king, architectural blueprint was approved by the king and the king went supervision by himself . The thing that architects of Nguyen Dynasty must be comply, it is the principle of feng shui. Any mausoleum also must according the correct those rule related to the entity geographical natural: mountains, rivers, lakes, steams and especially " huyen palace" is in the center.
In "Eastern Art" book, Jeannine Auboyer commented that :Vietnamese people has selected the beautiful natural scenery to build structures of their worship. This is attested most clearly through the art of architecture mausoleums of Hue. Here architectural works also lie on a grass hill in a quiet pine forest, hidden behind giant trees, and is covered by a panoramic blue.

Aroundvn will introduce to you the mausoleums of Hue that have unique and beautiful architecture.

Gia Long mausoleum.


Gia Long mausoleum, also known as Thien Tho mausoleum, which was built from 1814 to 1820, located between Thien Tho mountain that consists of 42 hills, big and small mountains, belongs to Huong Tho commune, Huong Tra district, Thua Thien - Hue province. This is resting place of Gia Long king(1762 - 1820), the first king of the Nguyen Dynasty's 13 kings.

Gia Long mausoleum has circumference more than 11 thousand meters, Dai Thien Tho mountain is in front of it, 14 mountains are two sides and that makes the posture " ta thanh long"(blue dragon in the left), "huu bach ho"(right in the right). In the mausoleum, the crescent lake is in front of the mausoleum, next, sacrifice yard is divided into 6 steps, finally, Buu Thanh where is the tomb of King and Queen.


Minh Mang mausoleum


Minh Mang mausoleum has a width of 26 hectares, it is an overall architecture consists of 40 large and small works that located on a hill with river, lake. The mausoleum was built from 1840 to 1843.

There are three doors in front of the mausoleum, the center is Dai Hong Mon(only open when receiving the Minh Mang's body into the mausoleum, two sides are Ta Hong Mon and Huu Hong Mon. Inside Dai Hong Mon has session yard, the two sides have two carved stone statue rows of elephants, horses and functionary

Thieu Tri mausoleum


Thieu Tri mausoleum located back against Thuan Dao mountain, it belongs to Cu Chanh commune, Huong Thuy district, about 8 kilometers from the center of Hue. This is the mausoleum that has the shortest construction time (completed in 10 months) of Nguyen kings's 7 mausoleum and the only mausoleum towards to the northwest.

Tu Duc mausoleum


Tu Duc mausoleum or known as Khiem mausoleum that located on a narrow valley of the Thuong Ba village, Thuy Xuan commune, Hue city. The mausoleum was built from 1864 to 1867 on an area of 475 hectares. Tu Duc mausoleum has soft contours that reflect the romantic soul of the poet king.

In addition to the aim is the burial place of his death, this place is also a place to rest, read,etc of the king, so its landscape like a large park with sound of water and poetic lake, green pine. Moreover, the theater was built here and place of the concubines.

Dong Khanh mausoleum.


Dong Khanh mausoleum of Thuong Hai village, Thuy Xuan commune, Hue city. Built over 4 dynasties and lasted from 1888 - 1923, the mausoleum has influenced of both classical architecture and Western Europe architecture.

This stratification demonstrated in worship place with architectural style “Trung Thiem Điep Oc”. The main hall and houses were paint with splendid colors. Besides, Ngung Hy palace has stained glass window system and the terracotta reliefs.

Duc Duc mausoleum


Duc Duc mausoleum, other name "An Lang", located in An Cuu ward, Hue city. The mausoleum was built by Thanh Thai king in 1889, it is the burial place of Duc Duc king, Thanh Thai king and Duy Tan king.
Duc Duc mausoleum has a width of 1 hectare, it consists the tomb and worship place that are put in parallel with each other. Phuoc Qua hill is in front, Tam Thai mountain is in back. Inside the tomb, there is not stone statue as the other tombs, instead, that is the type of Huynh Oc house. Notably, leaf is in front of the king's tomb that has two word "song hy" means"happy" covered with porcelain , it has caused more curiosity and questions for historians and tourists.

In addition to the resting place of three kings, the mausoleum has more than 39 tombs of the aristocrats and 121 tombs of those who have relationship with Duc Duc king.

Khai Dinh mausoleum




Among the Nguyen Dynasty's mausoleums, Khai Dinh mausoleum, also known as Ung Lang is only works with architectural mix of East and West. This is the resting place of Khai Dinh king, the 12th emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The mausoleum located on Chau Chau mountain(known as Chau E), of Thuy Bang commune, about 10 kilometers from Hue city to the southwest.

Although the mausoleum's size is smaller than the other king predecessor's mausoleum, it was meticulously built so spend much more time as well as money than the other mausoleum(from 1920 -1930)

Was recorded , to have construction cost for mausoleum, Khai Dinh king asked the government allowing him increase tax to 30% in the country and get the money to make mausoleum.

The highlight of Khai Dinh mausoleum is a blend of many different architectural styles such as: Hinduism, Buddhism, Roman, Gothique,etc.

In particular, Khai Dinh mausoleum is famous for gorgeous 3 frescoes "cuu long an van" (nine dragons hide behind clouds) that was decorated on the ceiling of 3 houses in the middle of Thien Dinh palace.

Come to Hue's mausoleums, we don't see the images of death, fear like visit to " Minh thap tam lang" ( thirteen mausoleums of Minh dynasty) in China, we also don't feel small, heavy pressure when standing in front of the massive pyramids of Egypt Emperor. In the mausoleums in Hue, human is still topic of architecture and nature. Here, we encounter the familiar image closely, there are interesting psychedelic between reality and dreams

Tips when traveling to Hue here