An Dinh Palace is a tourist attraction extremely favored by domestic and foreign tourists in their Hue exploration trips. The ancient, mossy beauty has made An Dinh Palace even more beautiful in the eyes of locals and tourists. Let’s take a walk with Say Hello Vietnam at An Dinh palace!
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Where is An Dinh Palace?
Address
Location: Located right on the bank of An Cuu river, number 179B Phan Dinh Phung, now in De Bat ward, Hue city.
An Dinh Palace is a unique work associated with many late Nguyen kings such as King Khai Dinh, King Bao Dai, built-in 1917.
Instructions to move to the palace
After moving to Hue, you can choose one means of transport such as taxi, motorbike taxi or motorbike rental to visit An Dinh Palace. Anh Dinh Palace is only about 2-3 km from the city center, so it is very convenient to travel by any means. However, riding a motorbike is still the optimal solution if you want to be comfortable and free to explore many other places.
Starting from Trang Tien Bridge, you go straight along Hung Vuong Street, at the intersection, turn right onto Phan Dinh Phung Street, go a short distance, and you will see the An Dinh Palace Sign. You can find a parking space outside or enter the palace’s parking area, then feel free to visit. It only takes about 5-10 moves.
History of the Palace
In 1901, Crown Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Dao – later King Khai Dinh decided to set up his government, named it An Dinh. Later, when he officially ascended to the throne, King Khai Dinh ordered his soldiers to renovate the building according to modern architecture, and it took two years to complete.
In 1922, An Dinh Palace was given to Dong Cung Crown Prince Vinh Thuy – King Bao Dai later according to the wishes of King Khai Dinh. After ascending the throne, he lived with his wife and children and experienced many events here. After 1945, the whole family of King Bao Dai moved from the Royal Palace to live here, but only for a short time. Only the mother of King Bao Dai – Mrs. Tu Cung, stayed until 1949.
In 1954, this palace was confiscated by Ngo Dinh Diem’s government. Ms. Tu Cung decided to hand over the entire palace to the revolutionary government due to conflicts with the king in 1975. During this time, An Dinh palace was used as a shared residence for professor families in Hue and for many other purposes.
This place remains the same and is recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage, becoming a destination not to be missed when visiting Hue.
Information when visiting An Dinh Palace
Entrance Fee
Like other monuments in Hue, if you want to visit An Dinh palace, you have to buy an entrance ticket. Ticket prices here are quite low, specifically:
– 30,000 VND/adult
– Free: for children
Opening hours
An Dinh Palace usually opens at a fixed time frame:
– Summer: 6:30am – 5:30pm
– Winter: 7:00 am – 5:00 pm
Based on this opening time, you should also arrange and schedule a more detailed tour of Hue.
Read more: 5 Tombs of the Nguyen Dynasty you should visit
What is so attractive about An Dinh Palace?
An Dinh Palace and Empress Nam Phuong’s feelings
An Dinh Palace was the living place of Empress Nam Phuong. She is a talented and beautiful woman, but she does not have complete love.
Her real name is Nguyen Huu Thi Lan, a native of Annam. With a noble appearance with kindness, she quickly caught the eye of King Bao Dai and was crowned queen. It seemed that this marriage had a happy ending, but it ended in sadness when the king had a relationship with another woman. With humility, endurance, and sacrifice, she and her children remained silent and lived with their mother-in-law until 1947. After that, she and her children moved to France to settle down and leave this place.
An Dinh Palace with the beauty of Asian and European architecture
This palace is an architectural work that opened the beginning of the fine-arts period in Hue, the interference between the two cultures of Asia and Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the decorative details are designed in Roman-style and European-style, which was luxury and sophistication.
Learn more about the architecture of An Dinh Palace
Main gate of An Dinh Palace
The main gate is considered one of this palace’s most unique architectural features because of its three-story design. The details around the entrance are decorated with embossed porcelain that looks very impressive and bold Vietnam’s traditional. At the top of the roof of the upper floor, there is also a large pearl icon.
Trung Lap communal house of An Dinh palace
Stepping through the main gate, you will see Trung Lap Communal House with an octagonal communal house structure, a very high foundation, and the roof is in the form of an ancient floor. The top of the communal house has two layers: a lower layer with eight edges and an upper layer with four edges. Inside the communal house, there is a bronze statue of King Khai Dinh, cast in 1920 and measured to the correct proportions. Looking at this statue, you will feel like a real person because every detail and pattern is sculpted meticulously and delicately.
Khai Tuong Pavilion
Behind the Trung Lap Communal House is the Khai Tuong Pavilion. King Khai Dinh named Khai Tuong with the meaning of the place to start auspiciously. The pavilion has three floors with an area of up to 745 square meters with European architectural style. Besides impressing the exterior design, Khai Truong Pavilion is also invested with extremely elaborate decoration with many materials brought back from Europe. Among them are murals with high artistic value and furniture placed on the first floor. The lobby area is also very prominent, with six paintings with wooden frames, carved lotus leaves, stunning apricot flowers. The first five paintings are the background of 5 mausoleums of 5 kings (except for the 6th picture). The combination of traditional patterns with Western decorative patterns creates a beautiful space.
An Dinh Hue Palace is both a testament to the sad love stories of Empress Nam Phuong and a historical mark with a unique architecture that combines Asia and Europe and attracts tourists. This palace is a sight that you should not miss in your Hue discovery journey!
