Vietnam hopes that the Ho Citadel in Thanh Hoa Province will be one of the newest heritage sites to be inscribed on the World Heritage list.

Ho Dynasty Citadel – unique stone structure
Nhan Dan, 25 Feb 2011

The Ho Dynasty Citadel which is located in Vinh Long and Vinh Tien communes of Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province, is a unique stone structure built by the Vietnamese people. It is hoped that the Ho Dynasty Citadel will be recognised as a World Cultural Heritage Site at the 35th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bahrain in June.

Unique stone architecture
The construction of the Ho Dynasty Citadel was completed in only three months (from January 1397 to March 1397). The Citadel served as the capital of the Dai Viet nation in the final years of the Tran Dynasty, as well as the Dai Ngu nation for seven years (1400 – 1407), and was officially named ’Tay Do‘ (Western Capital) to distinguish it from the Thang Long – Dong Do Citadel (Eastern Capital). The only stone citadel in Vietnam built within such a short period of time, the citadel comprises of two layers: the inner layer ’Hoang Thanh‘ was built with stone and the outer layer “La Thanh” was built with soil.