1. Introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town
Where is Hoi An Ancient Town – Hoi An Ancient Town Da Nang
Hoi An Ancient Town is an ancient town located in the lower reaches of the Thu Bon River, in the coastal plain of Quang Nam province, Vietnam, about 30 km south of Da Nang city.
Hoi An is a city in Quang Nam province with many ancient quarters built in the 16th century and still remaining almost intact to this day. In ancient Western documents, Hoi An is called Faifo. Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999. This is a place that attracts many tourists to Da Nang – Hoi An.
Cultural values of Hoi An ancient town – Introduction to Hoi An ancient town
As the only traditional Southeast Asian port in Vietnam, rare in the world, Hoi An has preserved almost intact more than a thousand architectural relics such as streets, houses, assembly halls, communal houses, pagodas, temples, clan churches, ancient wells, ancient tombs… Coming here, tourists traveling to Hanoi – Da Nang will have the opportunity to admire the architectures that have both traditional Vietnamese artistic nuances and demonstrate cultural exchange and integration with Eastern and Western countries.
Most of the houses here are traditional architectures dating from the 17th to the 19th century, arranged along narrow streets. Interspersed between the townhouses, religious and belief architectural works demonstrate the process of formation, development and decline of the city. Hoi An is also a land that bears many marks of cultural blending and exchange. Assembly halls and temples bearing traces of the Chinese are located next to traditional Vietnamese townhouses and houses with French architectural style. In addition to the cultural values through architectural works, Hoi An also preserves a diverse and rich intangible culture. The daily life of the ancient town’s residents with customs, religious activities, folk arts, and cultural festivals are still being preserved and developed. Hoi An is considered a living museum of architecture and urban lifestyle. In addition to the cultural values through diverse architecture, Hoi An also preserves many intangible cultural activities with cultural festivals that are being preserved and promoted along with traditional craft villages, culinary dishes… making Hoi An increasingly become an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world.
2. Describe Hoi An Ancient Town
Hoi An with traditional architecture
Hoi An is famous for its traditional architectural beauty, the harmony of its houses, walls and streets. Along with the ups and downs of history, Hoi An ancient town still retains its ancient beauty, covered in moss in every tile, brick, tree row… just like the simplicity in the character, the pure and honest soul of the local people.
Hoi An Ancient Town Architecture – Introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town
The most common type of housing in Hoi An is the one or two-story townhouses with a narrow width and very long depth, creating a tube-shaped house. The main materials used to build houses here are all highly durable and resistant to the harsh climate and annual storms and floods of this area. Usually, the houses have a wooden frame structure, with brick walls separating the two sides. The average area of the houses is about 4 to 8 meters wide and about 10 to 40 meters deep, varying by street. The common floor plan of the houses here includes: sidewalk, porch, main house, outbuilding, porch, toilet house and inner yard, porch, three-room back house, back garden.
Tiled Roofs – Introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town
The houses in Hoi An are mostly built with two roofs, most of the main house and the outhouse do not share a roof but two adjacent roofs. Very few cases have the main roof covering the outhouse. On the contrary, most of the toilet houses are roofed with four roofs. In general, the front house, the toilet house and the back house are covered with separate roofs. Tiles in Hoi An are made from clay, thin, roughly baked, square, each side is about 22cm and slightly curved. When roofing, people first lay a row of tiles facing up and then a row of tiles facing down.
Streets – Introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town
The streets in the old town are arranged horizontally and vertically in a checkerboard pattern with short and beautiful streets, winding, embracing the houses. Walking through each of these small and peaceful streets, visitors can not only enjoy delicious food but also see a part of the daily life of Hoi An people, a peaceful and simple life.
3. Typical relics
Chua Cau – One of the historical relics of Hoi An Ancient Town
When mentioning Hoi An, visitors certainly do not want to miss the “symbol of Hoi An” – Chua Cau. Chua Cau, also known as the Japanese Pagoda, is located between Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and Tran Phu Street, is a unique and typical architectural work in Hoi An. This pagoda was built by Japanese merchants who came to trade here around the middle of the 16th century.
Tan Ky Ancient House
This ancient house is honored to become a National Heritage and is the only place to welcome Heads of State and politicians from home and abroad. The ancient house combines Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architectural styles. With the typical tubular architecture of the ancient city, this place consists of two horizontal bars overlapping each other, symbolizing heaven and man and 5 vertical bars symbolizing the five elements. The harmonious architecture of the house expresses the dream of harmony between people and nature in Hoi An.
