Hanoi to Start Renovation of Kinh Thien Palace in 2026

Since the start of the year, Thang Long Imperial Citadel and Co Loa Citadel Relic have welcomed a total of 386,000 visitors.

Administrator

19 April, 2023

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Dinh Tien Dung, the Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, has urged local authorities to initiate the restoration plan of Kinh Thien Palace by 2026. On April 18th, he strongly emphasized the need to start the process as soon as possible.

Visitors at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung/The Hanoi Times

The Hanoi Party Chief declared that the plan must adhere to scientific and historical principles, while taking into account the advice of both domestic and international experts. Moreover, this plan should be developed with input from all stakeholders, in order to ensure its success.

He asserted that the renovation of the Kinh Thien Palace would have an immense effect on the tourism and cultural industries of the capital city.

“Drawing up the restoration plan must be completed by the end of 2025 in order for construction to commence the following year,” the official stated at a meeting on heritage preservation.

Hanoi is planning to invest VND14 trillion (US$596.2 million) to reconstruct and preserve its heritage sites. This is part of the city’s effort to protect and further promote its cultural and historical attractions.

In addition to Kinh Thien Palace, city authorities plan to construct the temple of Ngo Quyen, the Vietnamese monarch who successfully ended more than a millennium of Chinese rule in 938, as well as other projects in the vicinity of Co Loa Citadel, the legendary imperial city renowned for its legend of King An Duong Vuong and his multi-shot bow.

“Preserving heritage sites, completing projects on time, and making culture a driver of Hanoi’s sustainability requires a great deal of determination,” Dung asserted.

Nguyen Thanh Quang, the director of the Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center, has announced that the center will be focusing on the completion of the restoration plan for the Kinh Thien Palace and its subsequent submission to the higher authorities.

“We anticipate submitting our restoration plan to the World Heritage Center in the third quarter of 2023 and completing land clearance in the surrounding areas by the end of this year,” he declared.

At the meeting, Quang reported that more than 386,000 tourists had visited the imperial city and the Co Loa Citadel relic since the beginning of the year.

Total income from ticket and souvenir sales at the two relics amounted to VND5.62 billion (US$239,300), accounting for 80% of the full-year target, Quang reported. He further emphasized that the relics welcomed 300 international guests during the 12th Vietnam-France Decentralization Cooperation Conference last week.

“The Center and the Dong Anh District People’s Committee, the administrator of the Co Loa Citadel relic, are taking steps to strengthen the preservation of the two heritages,” he said.

Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, is home to more than 1,200 national-level relics, representing approximately a third of the total cultural heritage of the country. With a rich history spanning more than 1,000 years, Hanoi is home to a vast array of tangible and intangible values that are invaluable to the nation.

Hanoi boasts an impressive 1,200 national-level relics, accounting for a third of the whole country’s total. Boasting a history stretching back over a thousand years, the city provides a rich source of both tangible and intangible assets to the nation.

At the Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic, spanning more than 16.6 hectares, or 91% of the relic’s area, exploration has been conducted. In order to preserve the relic, the city is actively searching for solutions to remove the houses in the nearby vicinity.

Hanoi became the capital of ancient Vietnam in 1010 under the Ly Dynasty, with the toponym Thang Long (literally meaning “Flying Dragon”). During the reign of King Minh Mang, the city was officially renamed Hanoi in 1831.