Hue

Hue

Hue is located in Central Vietnam on a plain bordered by the foothills of the Annamai Cordillera, 8 kilometers from the South China Sea coast, and crossed by the wide, shallow Huong River. Hue is renowned for its historic monuments, for which it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Nguyen emperors' seat was the Imperial City, covering a large walled area on the northern bank of the Perfume River. It includes the palaces that were home to the imperial family, along with shrines, gardens and the villas of the mandarins. Within the citadel there was a forbidden city, accessible only to emperors, concubines and people close enough to them. Originally built as a new capital under Emperor Gia Long in 1803, it served mainly as a ceremonial city during the period of French colonial rule. After the monarchy's demise in 1945, it was severely damaged and abandoned during the wars in Indochina until the 1980s. Nowadays, little remains of the forbidden city, although reconstruction work is underway to preserve it as a historic tourist attraction. Near Hue, there are countless other monuments along the Perfume River, among them the tombs of several emperors, such as Minh Mang, Khai Dinh and Tu Duc. Also worth mentioning is Thien Mu Pagoda, which is the largest pagoda in Hue, and the city's official symbol. The Huế Museum of Royal Fine Arts houses a collection of a variety of artefacts from the city. Besides the different tourist attractions of Hue itself, the city also provides day trips to the Demilitarized Zone, some 70 km to the north, which features various war sites such as The Rockpile, the Khe Sanh Combat Base and the Vinh Moc tunnels.