THANH HOATu Thuc Cave is considered as one of the most beautiful caves in Thanh Hoa with majestic mountain scenery, fanciful shimmering stalactites associated with the legend of Tu Thuc taking a fairy.
Tu Thuc Cave is located in the heart of a mountain in the majestic Tam Diep mountain range in Nga Thien commune, Nga Son district, more than 40 km northeast of Thanh Hoa city. This relic is known as one of the beautiful caves in the coastal plain of Thanh Hoa.
Tu Thuc is more than 200 m long, thousands of m2 wide, inside there are countless strange shaped stalactites.
The cave is associated with the thrilling legend of Tu Thuc meeting a fairy.
According to the old history, Tu Thuc was a real historical figure who lived under the Tran dynasty in the XNUMXth century and worked as an official in Tien Du, Bac Ninh. He is famous for being intelligent, studious, mandarin and always has compassion for the people. He often spends his salary to buy rice and distribute it to the people in the years of famine.
Legend has it that Tu Thuc loved to travel in the mountains, enjoy the scenery and write poetry. During a flower viewing festival, he encountered a beautiful young woman who, while looking at flowers, accidentally broke a peony branch and was kept by the temple. With a chivalrous heart, he immediately took off his brocade shirt to help the young woman atone for her sins. After that, Tu Thuc went back to his hometown to enjoy the country.
One day, looking out at Than Phu seaport, he saw a cloud of five colors forming the shape of a lotus. Tu Thuc rowed to the mountain and entered a cave. When he entered, he fell in love with the scene of the fairy and knew that this was the place where the flower fairies lived. Since then, Tu Thuc has been matched with the fairy Giang Huong.
In the past, the mountain range had Tu Thuc Cave, which was located deep on the seabed, but due to the process of the sea receding to reveal large limestone caves.
Under the colorful electric light, the mountain cave is more shimmering and fanciful.
Local people have imagined fairy tales such as gold warehouses, silver mountains, Buddha statues, lotuses attached to each array of stalactites, making many tourists more enchanted and attractive.
This stalactite seam shimmers as if inlaid with gold with many layers imprinted with time.
Tu Thuc Cave was ranked as a National Landscape Monument in 1992. According to the People's Committee of Nga Son district, every year this place welcomes thousands of visitors, mainly during the festival season and Tet holiday.
In the past, there were many famous people like Le Thanh Tong and Le Quy Don who came to enjoy and left many poems engraved on the wall of Tu Thuc cave.
In front of the door of Tu Thuc cave, there is an old tree, the rope body is wrapped around the ancient tree, crossing the path to create hammocks swaying in the wind. According to legend, this is the place where fairies come down to play every afternoon.
Gamm is a vine that often grows in tropical forests. This plant has a resilient vitality despite harsh weather or poor soil nutrients
According to local people, the tree at the entrance of Tu Thuc cave has grown and developed here for many generations, possibly up to a hundred years. The largest part of the trunk is about 20 cm in diameter.
Mai The Hai, narrator of the Landscape Management Board of Tu Thuc Cave, said the story of "the man who met the fairy" and the tree has created a brand for this place, contributing to attracting tourists from all over the world.
In recent years, Nga Son district has invested in many projects to upgrade the transport system, renovate the campus around Tu Thuc cave and surrounding monuments to exploit the tourism potential.
