The North Gate bears the marks of time.

Archival photograph: The North Gate, taken by Dr. Hocquard around 1884-1885. Surrounding the citadel is a wide moat with a bridge leading to the gate. At this time, there are already bullet marks from French gunboats that struck the citadel in 1882.

Along the tree-lined Phan Dinh Phung street, Bac Mon Gate – one of the few remaining parts of the ancient Thang Long citadel – still stands majestically, solemnly, marked by two cannonball marks from the French, signifying a time when the Imperial City was engulfed in the flames of invading forces. Bac Mon Gate (North Gate) was built by the Nguyen dynasty in 1805 on the foundation of the Le dynasty's Bac Gate, in the style of a watchtower – with the tower above and the ramparts below. It is 8.71m high, 17.08m wide, and has walls 2.48m thick.

The upper part of the pavilion is constructed with a wooden frame in the style of an eight-tiered roof, covered with traditional tiles, and has doors opening in four directions. Rainwater from the pavilion is drained down through two stone gutters.

Standing on the city gate, the French soldiers could survey the entire area inside and outside the city, easily observing the movements and changes in the enemy's formations. Therefore, even after capturing Hanoi , the French army continued to use the upper tower of the North Gate as a guard post.

Currently, the upper tower of the newly restored citadel gate is dedicated to the worship of the two governors of Hanoi - Nguyen Tri Phuong and Hoang Dieu - who committed suicide because they could not defend the citadel against the onslaught of the French army.

Many locals still regularly go up to the North Gate watchtower to light incense and pay respects to the two valiant heroes – after whom posterity respectfully named the two modern roads running on either side of the ancient city wall.

The ramparts were built very solidly with stone and brick, the base of the ramparts was made of stone, and the city gates were also arched with bricks laid in a pattern of alternating horizontal and vertical bricks. The bricks used to build the ramparts measured 35.5cm x 10cm x 12cm. The supporting stones ranged in length from 38 to 86cm.

The rectangular stone gate has a border decorated with lotus flowers. The two restored wooden city gates have a total area of 24 square meters, weigh approximately 16 tons, and run on bronze wheels weighing about 80 kg each. Above the gate are three Chinese characters carved in stone: "North Gate," with a border decorated with floral patterns.

North Gate today - Photo: Chinhphu.vn

According to historical records and documentary photographs taken before the destruction of Hanoi Citadel, on either side of the North Gate inside the citadel walls, there were triangular brick-built watchtowers leading up to each other.

In front of the North Gate was a brick bridge spanning a moat approximately 20 meters wide that surrounded the citadel. Visually, the location of the moat in front of the North Gate today appears to be a grassy area, sidewalk, and part of Phan Dinh Phung street.

Some argue that the bridge over the moat leading to the North Gate was a sturdy brick bridge, not a suspension bridge, so the moat didn't serve a defensive purpose. However, many others believe that even though the bridge to the citadel wasn't a suspension bridge, the primary defensive objective of the moat surrounding the ancient citadel was to limit enemy access to the citadel.

Although the North Gate was built by the Nguyen dynasty, at the foot of this imposing gate lie layers upon layers of ramparts and fortifications from previous dynasties, affirming the continuity of the Imperial Citadel's thousand-year history.

In 1998, in the North Gate area, archaeologists discovered numerous architectural remains at depths of 1.66m and 2.2m, including traces of sections of stone and brick city walls from the Le Dynasty.

Today, the North Gate has become an interesting tourist attraction for both domestic and international visitors. Visitors can easily see that the outside of the North Gate still bears the marks of two cannonballs fired by the French when they used warships to attack Hanoi from the Red River bank in 1882.

The North Gate of the citadel is not only a remaining relic of the ancient Hanoi citadel but also a testament to the heroic battles fought by the people and soldiers of Hanoi in the early days of resisting the French colonial invasion and occupation of Hanoi.

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/bac-mon-luu-dau-thoi-gian-10233754.htm