Hoa Lu Ancient Capital - a glorious golden mark with the aspiration and determination to become a Millennium Heritage City

(CLO) Ninh Binh is known as a land of spiritual and human talents, a land of heritage, the birthplace of Kings, Saints, and Gods. The place where more than 1,000 years ago, Van Thang Vuong Dinh Bo Linh defeated 12 warlords, unified the country, established Dai Co Viet State - the first centralized feudal state of our country, with the capital in Hoa Lu, associated with three dynasties: Dinh, Ly, and Tien Le.

The mark of a golden age of the nation

As one of the four core areas of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. In the 10th century, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital played the role of the capital of Dai Co Viet State, with a capital-urban culture that still resonates to this day.

Art program to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang and the opening of Hoa Lu Festival.

With the terrain of rolling hills surrounding the capital belt like a solid screen, along with the winding Hoang Long River and the Nho Quan and Gia Vien fields with deep moats, Hoa Lu is a land of high military value. It was in this land that in 968, Dinh Bo Linh defeated the 12 warlords, ascended the throne, established the heroic Dai Co Viet country, and Hoa Lu became the political center - the first capital of the centralized feudal state.

Delegates offered incense at Dinh Tien Hoang De Temple (Gia Vien District, Ninh Binh City).

This was the first imperial capital of our country, existing for 42 years, witnessing the heroic nation building and defense of 12 years of Dinh Dynasty (968 - 980), 29 years of Tien Le Dynasty (980 - 1009) and the beginning of Ly Dynasty (1009 - 1010).

The capital Hoa Lu was formed on the foundation of the economic , social and cultural development of the region. By the end of the 60s of the 10th century, after meeting all the favorable conditions to become the capital, Hoa Lu had developed outstandingly in both urban and town areas to become the largest and most typical urban area of ​​the Dai Viet nation at that time.

Hoa Lu during the Dinh-Le period became a great cultural center, marking the beginning of a golden age of the nation, opening up and laying the foundation for the prosperous development of Dai Viet civilization.

The unique feature of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital is the continuous settlement and settlement process from the time of the sea retreat to the present day. Even after the Ly Dynasty moved the capital to Thang Long, this land still continuously maintained diverse forms of settlement, making the vitality of the heritage maintained and enriched in the daily life and livelihood of Trang An residents. The heritage of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital is present in life in the form of tangible or intangible culture, and has spread to other areas (place names, cultural institutions, architecture, painting, music, etc.) forming modern heritage roads.

Time flies, the ancient capital still lies there peacefully, though silent but still majestic, a golden mark marking a heroic era of the nation. Today, coming to the ancient capital Hoa Lu, the past, present and future, history, natural landscape and people seem to blend together, bringing us back to the thousand-year-old indomitable roots of the nation.

The tangible and intangible cultural heritages of Hoa Lu Citadel that are still preserved have special important value in the history of the nation, and are vivid symbols expressing the indomitable will, pride, and desire for independence, freedom, and national unification of the Vietnamese people through thousands of years of history.

At the 1,055th Anniversary of Dai Co Viet State (968-2023), Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council Nguyen Xuan Thang affirmed that the legacy left by Dai Co Viet State, King Dinh Tien Hoang and his predecessors and the achievements that Ninh Binh province has achieved in the past time are extremely valuable, a solid foundation for the Party Committee, government and people of Ninh Binh to move towards the goal of becoming a well-off province in the Red River Delta region by 2030; contributing to the goal of turning our country into a developing country with modern industry and high middle income by 2030 and becoming a developed country with high income, following the socialist orientation by 2045.

Important resources for economic, cultural and social development

Through the ups and downs of history, the ancient capital Hoa Lu has become a unique cultural region. The vestiges and relics in Hoa Lu have played and are playing an important role in preserving and transmitting cultural values ​​from ancient times.

Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang, Gia Phuong commune, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh province.

Deeply aware of the great and precious values ​​of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital heritage, Ninh Binh province always attaches importance to, pays attention to researching, investing in and promoting the heritages left by our ancestors, considering them as important strategic resources to practically and effectively serve the cause of construction and socio-economic development of the locality, especially tourism and cultural industry development.

Analyzing the outstanding identity and characteristics of Ninh Binh as a driving force for socio-economic development, Dr. Phan Chi Hieu, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, emphasized: First, Ninh Binh is a land with a long-standing historical and cultural tradition: It was the capital of Vietnam in the 10th century, a land associated with the careers of 6 kings of the three dynasties of Dinh - Tien Le and Ly with many historical marks. Second, the province has many unique advantages in terms of natural values, natural resources and ecosystems, including the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which is a condition for Ninh Binh to develop comprehensive tourism and service sectors.

Ninh Binh has a very important geopolitical position. Hoa Lu in the past and Ninh Binh today are the convergence of three spaces: highland economic and cultural space, delta economic and cultural space and marine economic and cultural space. In addition, Ninh Binh is both the southernmost region of the North and the land associated with Thanh - Nghe region, and at the same time has natural and human characteristics close to the Northwest region.

Ninh Binh has the advantage of regional connectivity along the North-South axis, and at the same time has the strength of East-West connectivity. That special geopolitical and geo-economic position creates open spaces for this land. Ninh Binh has the conditions to enhance economic, social and cultural exchanges with not only the provinces and cities in the Red River Delta, the Northern Coastal region, the Northern key economic region but also with the provinces and cities in the Hanoi Capital region, the Northwest mountainous region; and the North Central region.

Besides, nature has favored Ninh Binh with a charming landscape with many famous relics and landscapes, attracting the special attention of many tourists. From there, Ninh Binh people continue the ancient cultural source, welcoming tourists with their inherent sincerity, kindness, simplicity and elegance.

Hoa Lu Cave - The starting base of hero Dinh Bo Linh.

The value of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital heritage is effectively promoted to create diverse tourism products. From here, a new direction is opened in promoting the value of local heritage, so that culture is an endogenous strength in accordance with the spirit of the Resolution of the 22nd Congress of the Ninh Binh Provincial Party Committee.

Ninh Binh's tourism and cultural industry have had many positive developments and breakthroughs with many important results: State management of tourism and culture has been strengthened; the quality and efficiency of tourism and cultural industry activities have changed positively; infrastructure and technical facilities serving cultural industry and tourism have been increasingly invested in and improved; tourism and service activities have been gradually organized and managed scientifically, professionally and sustainably; security, order, environmental sanitation and civilization have been ensured.

Many high-quality products with strong brands, imbued with the cultural identity of the land and people of Ninh Binh have been put into exploitation, initially meeting the needs of tourists, such as: Eco-tourism product system, sightseeing and experiencing natural values ​​associated with Trang An Scenic Complex; spiritual cultural tourism product system; craft village tourism products; traditional festival tourism products; urban tourism products; entertainment tourism; street food cultural tourism...

Ninh Binh is also a locality that coordinates with many units to organize cultural, sports, tourism events, music programs, fashion shows, exhibitions, publishing activities... Thereby integrating the promotion of Ninh Binh's traditional culture to the world, contributing to affirming the beauty of the land of the Millennium Heritage Ancient Capital.

Audience members sit on a boat at the "Brilliant Hoa Lu" Art Show.

Activities of conservation, preservation, restoration and preservation of heritage associated with the exploitation of historical tourism, spiritual tourism, cultural tourism, and ecological tourism associated with agricultural and rural livelihood models are promoted, attracting domestic and foreign tourists.

Since mid-2014, when Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex was recognized as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the demand for tourism development, cultural development and cultural industry has increased, promoting faster and stronger the process of rural urbanization, gradually bringing both urban and rural areas in the ancient Hoa Lu Capital region closer to the Heritage Urban model.

Procession on Sao Khe River at Trang An Festival 2024.

The process of moving towards a civilized, modern Millennium Heritage City that is the leading one in the country and has international stature is also the process of gradually perfecting the criteria for Ninh Binh to become a centrally-run city.

The outstanding values ​​of the capital - the first imperial capital of Dai Viet nation, as well as the first medieval urban - port city leaning on the mountain, overlooking the river, opening to the East Sea in the Northern region have created the most distinctive identity values ​​of the historical and cultural space of Hoa Lu Capital.

This is the main resource, strong driving force and fundamental advantage for Hoa Lu city in the future, to become a civilized and modern Millennium Heritage City.

Tran Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/co-do-hoa-lu--dau-an-vang-son-oai-hung-voi-khat-vong-va-quyet-tam-tro-thanh-do-thi-di-san-thien-nien-ky-post338266.html