Ho Chi Minh City restores statues of Le Loi and Tran Nguyen Han

Accordingly, the restored statue of King Le Loi will be handed over to the People's Committee of District 6 for display, depending on the location proposed by the locality. As for the statue of Tran Nguyen Han, the old version will be preserved and stored after completion. In addition, the statue will be molded and a negative copy will be created to serve the casting of a new statue when requested by the city government.

Previously, the statue of King Le Loi was located at Cay Go roundabout, bordering districts 6 and 11. Since 2013, the statue has been moved to Phu Lam park, district 6, to serve the construction of a steel overpass at the above intersection.

The Tran Nguyen Han statue in front of Ben Thanh market lost its right leg before being relocated to build a metro station in 2014. Photo: Huu Cong

The Department of Culture and Sports said that the overall statue is intact, the exterior shows signs of light weathering, some local cracks... However, the Department assessed that the statue has a solid structure and is eligible for restoration. After being moved to the location for restoration, the statue will be pumped to treat cracks, waterproofed, and have specialized preservation measures applied to the damaged areas to restore the entire weathered surface.

As for the Tran Nguyen Han statue, after being moved from the roundabout in front of Ben Thanh market, district 1, to Phu Lam park in 2014, the overall structure is no longer intact, with many major damages, such as: the right arm is broken, the horse's 4 legs cannot stand; the right leg is missing...

According to the Department of Culture and Sports, due to the hollow structure of the statue, after a long time the steel bars inside have rusted. The damage treatment is complicated and costly. In the case of restoration and placing it on a high pedestal, strong winds also cause unsafety and expensive annual maintenance costs... Therefore, the Department proposed to move the Tran Nguyen Han statue to storage and carry out on-site restoration and preservation, then cast a mold according to the original, in order to create a copy and replace the existing monument with a statue with a more durable structure (cast in bronze, carved in stone...) when permitted by competent authorities.

In Ho Chi Minh City, there are many monuments built before 1975 located at major intersections. These are statues of historical figures and national heroes such as: Phu Dong Thien Vuong (Phu Dong 6-way intersection, District 1), Tran Hung Dao (Me Linh Square, District 1), An Duong Vuong (District 5), Phan Dinh Phung (Chau Van Liem - Hai Thuong Lan Ong intersection (District 5)... Many statues have deteriorated and are being renovated by the city such as An Duong Vuong, Phan Dinh Phung...

Minh Tuan

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tp-hcm-phuc-dung-tuong-dai-le-loi-va-tran-nguyen-han-post289761.html