Vinh ancient citadel

Vinh ancient citadel

Vinh City - the heart of Nghe An - a land with a history of hundreds of years, where King Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue chose to build the capital in 1788. From then on, it was also called Phuong. Hoang Trung Do. Thanh Vinh in the past belonged to Vinh Yen commune, Yen Truong district, Nghe An province. Now it is Cua Nam ward - Vinh city, Nghe An province. The citadel's old name is Nghe An Citadel, and in folk culture it is also known as Turtle Citadel (turtle citadel). The reason it is called the turtle citadel is because the citadel was built in a 6-sided shape. Standing on Quyet mountain, looking down, it looks like the shape of a turtle. The citadel was built in the Nguyen Dynasty, during the reign of King Gia Long. In 1802, the Nguyen dynasty seized power from the Tay Son dynasty. Although he hated Nguyen Hue - Quang Trung, Gia Long could not ignore the outstanding vision of the military genius Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue that: Quyet Mountain and Vinh River have the stature of an imperial capital. So why is it not worth building a provincial headquarters? That's why, in 1804, Gia Long started building the citadel. However, because he wanted to erase traces of the Tay Son dynasty, Gia Long did not build the citadel on Dung Quyet mountain but built it in area 2, Vinh Yen commune, Yen Truong district, where traces of the citadel still remain. until now. The citadel was built of earth. King Gia Long's court mobilized 1,000 Thanh Hoa soldiers and 4,000 Nghe An soldiers to build the citadel. During the reign of King Minh Mang, in 1831 the citadel was built of laterite on a larger and more solid scale. During Tu Duc's reign, when upgrading, he took 8,599 stone slabs from Dien Chau and laterite from Nam Dan, 4,848 pounds of lime, 155 pounds of molasses, with a total cost of 3,688 francs - a huge amount of money at that time. to build. So we can see that the scale of citadel construction and the position of the citadel are very important. The citadel was built with the strength of the people, even with the blood and tears of the people. The citadel has a hexagonal structure, with an area of ​​about 420,000m2 and a circumference of 2,520m. includes 2 walls: inner wall and outer wall. Along with the high citadel system is a deep moat system. The trench was dug close to the edge of the citadel to get land to build the citadel and also served as a protection system, increasing the difficulty when the enemy attacked the citadel. The ditch system is also annually planted with lotus seeds to collect seeds to pay tribute to the court. The citadel has 3 entrances: Front gate, Left gate, Right gate. Cua Tien is the main door facing south with a sense of direction towards the capital Hue, and is the door for the king to sit in. The king was solemnly welcomed here, and the mandarins in the imperial ministry and the governor who came in and out were also welcomed here. The Left Gate opens to the east. In the middle above the gate arch are engraved two Chinese characters: "Left Gate". The gate's foundation is now covered because this road was paved in 1990. Huu Gate is opened to the west. The intermediate foundation also reveals polished blue stone slabs of many different sizes. Compared to the Front gate and the left gate, the body of Huu gong is still more intact. The gates are designed with domes. Standing in the middle of the city gate, we both feel like standing in the middle of a small solid house and also feel like standing in a solid blockhouse. It can be said that Nghe An citadel was designed as a military fortress, with high defensive capabilities. On the way to the city gates, across a deep moat, a bridge was built for travel. The bridge is built in a rolling arch style. The stone foundation is very solid. The bridge is 4.42 m wide, 2.5 m high, the bridge is 3.5 m wide, boats can easily pass under the bridge arch. During the Nguyen Dynasty, inside the citadel, the largest building was the palace. Along with that are agencies such as the governor's palace, the governor's palace, the military commander's palace, the governor's palace, the barracks and the prison. The entire citadel is equipped with 65 cannons, 47 of which are placed in guard posts, the rest are concentrated in the palace and the governor's palace. Thanh Vinh was born to create a political and military center, as well as a defense project of Nghe An province. In 1885, the French colonialists opened fire to invade our country. The feudal regime of the Nguyen dynasty resisted weakly, so Vinh citadel quickly fell into the hands of the French colonialists. Since then, Thanh Vinh has become a testament to a tragic but heroic period of the Nghe An people. This place witnessed the brave struggle of Uncle Ho's beloved sister - Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh. She organized the theft of guns from the barracks so that the insurgents would have enough weapons to attack the citadel, but when the matter was revealed, she was arrested and taken to Lao Vinh's house, where she was brutally tortured. The trial on June 4, 1918 sentenced her to 100 strokes and 9 years of hard labor. Next was the period of boiling spirit of the revolutionary climax of the 30th and 31st. Thanh Vinh became the place to witness extremely fierce struggles, witnessing the courageous spirit of sacrifice of the people of Nghe An to create a Soviet peak. By 1941, Vinh citadel again witnessed the sacrifice of the Palace Team and patriotic soldiers standing in the ranks of the French army. Through the process of history, the dust of time and the devastation of war have left the Citadel no longer intact. Only 3 city gates still retain their basic structures, still standing tall between the roads leading to the inner city. Vinh Ancient Citadel is an ancient vestige, a unique architectural work with enormous historical and cultural value. In 1998, Vinh Citadel was ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Source: Nghe An Relics Management Board

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