Imperial City of Huế

Why go

Vietnam's Department of Cultural Heritage describes the Imperial City as an almost square walled enclosure of about 600 m a side with four gates, of which Ngọ Môn is often taken as the symbol of the former capital; it stands inside the outer citadel (Kinh thành) and itself encloses the Forbidden Purple City (Tử cấm thành), where the royal family lived. Along its central axis the department lists Ngọ Môn and the Thái Hòa and Cần Chánh halls among the main buildings. The department records the Huế monuments as World Heritage since 1993, and its list of special national relics names the architectural complex of the former capital (decision 1272/QĐ-TTg, 12 August 2009). The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism describes the Imperial City as a walled area of tree-lined avenues, parks and canals crossed by old bridges. This record is the Imperial City, not the outer citadel or the World Heritage property; tickets, entry rules and the managing body were not read, because the heritage centre's site did not answer.