Scientists discuss archaeological discoveries at Thang Long Imperial Citadel. |
On the afternoon of January 10, at the World Cultural Heritage Site of Thang Long Imperial Citadel (Ba Dinh District, Hanoi), the Institute of Archaeology in coordination with the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center announced the results of archaeological excavations at Thang Long Imperial Citadel in 2024. Implementing UNESCO's recommendations and with the permission of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 2024, the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center in coordination with the Institute of Archaeology conducted an exploratory excavation of 500m2 , with 4 excavation pits. The first pit was in the southwest area of Hau Lau (ie northwest of Kinh Thien Palace, where the emperors held court during the early Le Dynasty and later). The second pit was excavated right on the foundation of Kinh Thien Palace. The third pit was located in the space between Kinh Thien Palace and Doan Mon, leaning to the west. The fourth pit was located right behind Doan Mon gate towards Kinh Thien Palace, a short distance from the excavation pit at the previous gate area. The purpose of the excavation is to focus on clarifying the spatial structure of Kinh Thien Palace. In particular, the excavation pit at the foundation of Kinh Thien Palace discovered traces of Nguyen Dynasty foundation blocks in the east-west direction; traces of foundation columns from the Later Le Dynasty (17th-18th century) with dimensions of 1.9m x 1.4m. The Kinh Thien Palace area was excavated in 2011 and 2023. The new results continue to further clarify the foundation structure of the main Kinh Thien Palace during the Later Le Dynasty.
The drainage has remained strong over the centuries. |
Excavation pit number two revealed three architectural vestiges of the Later Le period. These vestiges are all continuations of the corridor and wall architecture discovered from the excavations in 2014-2015. These vestiges contribute to confirming the hypothesis that there were two corridors, one east and one west, running from Doan Mon gate to the Kinh Thien main hall area. This corridor is the limit of the court space during the Early Le and Later Le periods. The excavation pit behind Doan Mon gate revealed many architectural vestiges of the Later Le period, including: Dan Tri courtyard, Ngu Dao (the emperor's road), about 30cm below Ngu Dao and Dan Tri during the Later Le period is a fairly large underground drainage system (53cm high, 37cm wide) with the function of draining water for the entire court space. The vestiges provide further understanding of the court space of this historical period. Meanwhile, excavation pit number one located northwest of Kinh Thien Palace provided additional data on an architectural vestige. These data also provide more information about the end of Kinh Thien Palace space, because these could be other palaces. According to Associate Professor Tong Trung Tin, Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, the 2024 excavation, although only excavating a small area, has brought many new insights, taking an important step forward in identifying Kinh Thien Palace and Kinh Thien Palace space during the early Le Dynasty (15th-16th century) and Le Trung Hung Dynasty (17th-18th century) in terms of architecture, materials, overall layout and construction techniques. These findings are the basis for research to restore Kinh Thien Palace space and Kinh Thien Palace; At the same time, it shows the need to demolish some works to clarify the awareness of the value of Thang Long Imperial Citadel as approved by UNESCO in Decision No. 46 COM 7B.43 in July 2024.
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