Hue Monuments Conservation Center: 42 years of reviving heritage1

42 years ago, a young unit was established by Thua Thien Hue province to carry on its heavy task: Reviving Hue heritage which was on the brink of being wiped out.

Lầu Ngũ Phụng trên Ngọ Môn Huế vừa được trùng tu sau nhiều năm rệu rã - Ảnh: NGUYỄN T.A. PHONG — *Ngu Phung Tower on Ngo Mon Gate in Hue has just been restored after many years of disrepair - Photo: NGUYEN TA PHONG*

That unit was called Hue Historical and Cultural Relics Management Company, the predecessor of today's Hue Monuments Conservation Center.

The company and now the center was established with the mission of advising on building plans and strategies to preserve, restore and promote the value of the heritage of the ancient capital of Hue . This is also a great turning point for the revival of Hue heritage.

Dozens of large and small works belonging to the Hue ancient capital relic complex have been researched, restored or rehabilitated by the center to ensure the urgency and rescue of a massive heritage system of the Nguyen Dynasty that has been severely damaged by time and war.

Những người thợ thi công mái của điện Thái Hòa. Trước sự xuống cấp của ngôi điện quan trọng nhất bên trong Đại Nội Huế, Trung tâm Bảo tồn di tích cố đô Huế đã tiến hành công cuộc trùng tu điện Thái Hòa vào năm 2021 - Ảnh: NGUYỄN T.A. PHONG — Workers are constructing the roof of Thai Hoa Palace. Due to the deterioration of the most important palace inside the Hue Imperial City, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center has carried out the restoration of Thai Hoa Palace in 2021 - Photo: NGUYEN TA PHONG

Most obviously, the palace system inside the Hue Royal Palace has now become a symbol when referring to the ancient capital.

Most recently, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center will open its doors to serve tourists visiting the two most important palaces of the Hue Imperial Palace, Thai Hoa Palace and Kien Trung Palace.

Thai Hoa Palace - the throne room - was the center of national power under the Nguyen Dynasty, and was urgently restored. Kien Trung Palace - the daily residence of King Khai Dinh and King Bao Dai - was destroyed in the war in 1947 and has now been restored almost intact.

Along with the Can Chanh Palace restoration project that is about to be implemented by the center, it will bring a new look to the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Palace relic site.

Hue heritage has been quickly restored from desolation and ruin, overcoming the emergency rescue phase to enter a phase of stable and sustainable development.

Up to now, Hue is proud to have 5 heritages recognized by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage, namely: Hue Monuments Complex (1993), Royal Court Music (2003), Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks (2009), Nguyen Dynasty Royal Records (2014) and Poetry on Hue Royal Architecture (2016).

Kien Trung Palace - where King Khai Dinh and King Bao Dai lived daily, was destroyed by war in 1947 - has been restored by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center - Photo: Provided by NGUYEN TA PHONG

Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said that the work of preserving and restoring relics has achieved many important results. Up to now, the relics have passed the emergency rescue stage and moved to the stabilization and development stage.

Most of the relics are regularly preserved by measures to prevent leaks, collapses, termites, reinforce and replace aging parts... Thanks to that, in the conditions of consecutive harsh natural disasters, the relics are still preserved and their lifespan is prolonged.

"In the new year of Giap Thin, the center will continue to preserve and promote the value of the Hue ancient capital relic system. Contribute with the Party Committee, government and people of the province to successfully implement Resolution 54 of the Politburo , making Thua Thien Hue a centrally-run city in 2025," said Mr. Trung.

With its achievements in the restoration of Hue heritage, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center has received many noble awards, honored to be awarded the Third Class Independence Medal (2017), Third Class Labor Medal (1996), Second Class (2001) and First Class (2006) by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and for many consecutive years has received the Excellent Emulation Flag in the field of museum conservation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism...