Roof detail from the Hòa Bình Gate of the Imperial City in Huế
The
last page
showed something of the palaces and temples that remain in the
Imperial City
of Huế. This page adds more detail. The huge project undertaken by the
Nguyễn dynasty
at the beginning of the 19th century drew on the best craftsmen of the day, and despite the strenuous efforts of cyclones, a tropical climate, and American bombing, the workmanship is at least fascinating and often, especially where restoration lets us recapture the original, superb.
The Thương Lang Colonnade
Courtyard gate in an unrestored state
There is no standard English language agreement on naming the monuments,
this page follows Google Maps if they name a building.
A restored panel of a gateway similar to the one on the right
A frog sitting looking along the colonnade from the same position as the photographer in the picture above
Neat hedging along the path to a gateway also with restored panels
Elaborate roof decoration on the Tổ Miếu Temple
The Hiển Nhơm Gate from the inside. One of the four major gates which stand at the centre point of each of the four sides of the Imperial City
The spirit screen of the Trường Sanh Pavillion viewed from the courtyard
Another screen from the outside doing its job of preventing the visitor from seeing into the courtyard
Large wooden doors with wooden and metal security bars and bolts
The gate to the Tổ Miếu Temple; with the curious addition of a prototype phone-box!
The courtyard in front of the Tổ Miếu Temple with one of the bronze urns
Urn outside the Hiển Lâm Pavillion
Panel on urn at left with dramatised lightning
Another panel showing a monastery in the hills
Nine urns, one per dynasty, outside the Hiển Lâm Pavillion
Visitors giving a sense of the size of the urns
The courtyard in front of the Tả Vu Pavilion
Dragon balustrade
One of the seventeenth century bronze vessels in the Tả Vu Courtyard
Plaque with details of the bronze vessels in the Tả Vu Courtyard; noting they weigh about one and half tons each
Inside the restored Diện Thái Palace
The restored ceiling of the Khôn Thái Palace
The front of the Khôn Thái Palace
The rear of the Khôn Thái Palace
A rather splendid statue - although maybe not all that sure of itself,
a lion wanting to be a dragon when it grows up? The next page seeks to compensate for all this opulence by taking you from emperor's palaces in Vietnam, to a remote village in Uttar Pradesh in India.
The last page had more images of buildings in Huế's Imperial City
A page on the artefacts in the Egypt Museum in Cairo
A page on Spirit Screens - in Scotland and Vietnam
