Exhibition featuring old villages held in Hanoi

An exhibition featuring the architecture of traditional Vietnamese villages is taking place in Hanoi.

Detailed architecture of ancient houses in Cu Da village.
Detailed architecture of ancient houses in Cu Da village.

“Kien Truc Lang Viet Truyen Thong” (Architecture of Vietnamese Traditional Village), held by the Relic Conservation Institute, introduces six old villages, including Tho Ha in the northern province of Bac Giang, Cu Da in Hanoi, Nom in the northern province of Hung Yen, Hanh Thien in the northern province of Nam Dinh and Phuoc Tich and An Truyen in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.

Tho Ha village is on the bank of the Cau river, about 50km from Hanoi. Different from other northern villages, Tho Ha did not rely on rice cultivation but from pottery and the floating market on the river.

It used to be a famous place of gom sanh (pottery without glaze fired with dry grass and then firewood and coal).

Cu Da village in Thanh Oai district lies 20km from downtown of Hanoi near the Nhue river.

Large houses built during the Le Dynasty and 50 French-style villas from the 1920s give Cu Da a reputation as a culturally rich and historic place.

Located about 40km south of Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, Phuoc Tich village was founded in 1470 under King Le Thanh Tong.

The village has unique cultural value systems such as the architecture of the temple and pagoda. It also preserves a typical Vietnamese community living space and culture.

These villages are close to rivers creating a friendly environment between people and nature.

The photos on display are the results of yearly research by the institute.

The exhibition also features detailed drawings, survey data on the architecture of the villages.

The exhibition runs until September 15.

The six villages are introduced in the first volume of a book entitled “Kien Truc Lang Co Viet Nam Qua Tu Lieu Vien Bao Ton Di Tich” (Architecture of Vietnamese Traditional Village) which was released on August 9.