Restoration and embellishment of national architectural and artistic relic of Phu Le family

Phu Le Communal House was recognized as a National Architectural and Artistic Relic in 1993.

Beautiful and precious interior

Phu Le Communal House (Phu Le Commune, Ba Tri District) was built in the 7th year of Minh Mang (1826), consisting of: 6 interconnected rooms, a martial arts house, a hall with an altar to worship heaven and earth, a listening room with an altar to worship ancestors, descendants, ancestors, the fourth room (the main room) worships gods; the fifth room (the reception room) is used to receive guests. Finally, the back room, consisting of 3 side rooms, structured in the shape of the letter T. The interior is decorated with many horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, parallel sentences and panels, the altar is elaborately carved, painted red, and gilded very delicately and vividly.

Although it was built in the 7th year of Minh Mang (1826), it was not until the 5th year of Tu Duc (1852) that the royal court conferred the title of “God of the Land” on Phu Le communal house. In addition to preserving the conferment, the Phu Le communal house's celebration committee also preserves the ritual of building the great altar, many prayers and sacrificial invocations... Phu Le communal house was recognized as a National Architectural and Artistic Relic in 1993 and is considered one of the typical communal houses in Cu Lao Bao “First Phu Cuong, second Phu Le”. Mr. Bui Khac Mui - General Director of the Joint Stock Company for Construction and Restoration of Cultural Works, a professional consultant for the design unit for the restoration of Phu Le communal house, said: “From 2010 to now, we have been the design unit, participating in the restoration and conservation of many relics in the province such as Vo Truong Toan Temple, Binh Hoa Communal House, Huong Liem Ancient House and some other relics. Regarding Phu Le Communal House, the design unit has conducted a survey and assessed the condition of the relic. We found that some materials, especially wood in the communal house, have degraded and need to be restored.”

During the restoration process, the design unit complied with Decree No. 166/2018/ND-CP of the Government stipulating the authority, order, procedures for establishing, appraising, and approving plans, projects for preserving, restoring, and rehabilitating historical-cultural relics and scenic spots. At the same time, the opinions of relevant agencies, departments, and branches, as well as local people and the management unit, the Provincial Museum, were sought. Phu Le Communal House is also famous for its large scale, majestic architecture, and decorative art sculptures inside and around the communal house.

Talking about the special features of Phu Le communal house, Mr. Bui Khac Mui said: “The interesting thing about Phu Le communal house is the furniture. The furniture of this communal house is very beautiful and very precious. The scale and architecture of the communal house are typical of Southern communal houses. Particularly in Ben Tre , we see that the province has many architectural works, especially architectural works of communal houses and ancient architecture, which are very rich. This is a unique feature of the province, many other provinces do not have that. We also see that the provincial leaders are very interested in preserving and restoring relics”.

Restoring a nearly 200-year-old communal house

On April 23, 2025, the project to restore and embellish the architectural relic of Phu Le communal house, invested by the Provincial People's Committee, with a budget of 30 billion VND, was officially launched. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hieu (70 years old) - Grand Master of Phu Le communal house, the person in charge of finance and internal and external affairs of the communal house shared: “Phu Le communal house shares the same fate as the homeland, having to go through fierce bombs and bullets in the war, but fortunately the bombs did not hit the communal house and the communal house only suffered some minor damage due to the impact of bombs and bullets. Phu Le communal house is 199 years old, many generations of people have preserved the communal house to this day. This is an important project, meeting the long-standing wishes of local people, helping to preserve and promote the historical and cultural values ​​of the communal house. Thanks to the attention of the province and local authorities, I hope that the communal house will promote its value”.

Over time, Phu Le communal house has been degraded and damaged, causing danger to people and tourists when visiting. Areas such as the main hall, the martial arts hall, the martial arts hall, and the tiled roof are all damaged. Every time it rains, the tiled roof leaks, water flows down in many places, making it unusable. In addition, the communal house has never had a fence around it, so there have been many cases of theft of antiques as well as problems in protecting the antiques in the communal house. Therefore, investing in the project of Restoration and embellishment of Phu Le communal house architectural and artistic relic is an urgent task of the province, aiming to preserve and promote the value of the relic and the religious needs of the people, preserve the spiritual cultural beauty, the priceless architectural and artistic assets that our ancestors left for future generations, bring to Phu Le commune and Ba Tri district one of the traditional architectural and artistic works, become an attractive cultural tourist destination, attract tourists and contribute to creating sustainable, autonomous financial resources for Phu Le communal house.

Director of the Provincial Management Board of Investment and Construction of Civil and Industrial Works, Bui Van Hiep, on behalf of the investor, said: “Renovating and embellishing the Phu Le Communal House Architectural Relic aims to preserve as much of the original elements of the relic as possible. Accurately restore the elements that have been missing or lost during the existence of the relic. Restore the original shape of the relic. Enhance the sustainability of the relic, ensure the necessary conditions for the relic to exist for a long time in its original form from shape, architectural structure, color, decorative lines to construction materials...”.

The total investment of the Phu Le Communal House Architectural and Artistic Relic Project is 30 billion VND, from the budget in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021 - 2025. The project is located in Phu Khuong Hamlet, Phu Le Commune, Ba Tri District, on the existing land of Phu Le Communal House with an area of ​​about ^8,000m2 . Currently, the investor is coordinating with the project consulting unit to complete the project dossier to submit to the competent authority for approval of the project to organize the implementation of the next steps. The project is expected to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“The project of restoring and embellishing the architectural and artistic relic of Phu Le communal house is of utmost importance to the economic, cultural and social development of the province. In order for the project to be successfully implemented, we request the Provincial Management Board of Investment and Construction of Civil and Industrial Works to continue completing legal procedures to select a contractor to ensure the project is completed on schedule, with quality and aesthetics according to the design plan approved by the competent authority.”

(Vice Chairwoman of Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Be Muoi)

Article and photos: Thach Thao

Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/tu-bo-ton-tao-di-tich-kien-truc-nghe-thuat-cap-quoc-gia-dinh-phu-le-14052025-a146616.html