Citadel of Ho Dynasty

Citadel of the Ho Dynasty *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Vietnam
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Reference	1358
Region **	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	2011 (35 Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Citadel of Hồ Dynasty (Vietnamese: Thành nhà Hồ; also called Tây Đô castle or Tây Giai castle) is a citadel in Vietnam, constructed by the Hồ Dynasty (1400-1407).

It is located in Tây Giai commune, Vĩnh Lộc district, in Thanh Hóa Province, in Vietnam's North Central Coast region. Its coordinates at 20°4′40″N 105°36′17″E / 20.07778°N 105.60472°E / 20.07778; 105.60472Coordinates: 20°4′40″N 105°36′17″E / 20.07778°N 105.60472°E / 20.07778; 105.60472.

Tây Đô castle is rectangular in shape. Its north-south side is 870.5 m (2,856 ft) in length and its east-west side is 883.5 m (2,899 ft) in length. There are four gates: one at the south (fore gate), one at the north (back gate), one at the east (left gate), and one at the west (right gate). The southern gate is 9.5 m (31 ft) high and 15.17 m (49.8 ft) wide.

The castle was constructed from stone blocks, each of which is 2×1×0.7 m (6.6×3.3×2.3 ft) size on average.

Except for its gates, the castle is mostly ruined.

The Citadel was inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage Sites on June 27, 2011.^[1]

Gallery

• 

  South gate

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  North gate

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  East gate

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  A stone cannon ball found in Tây Đô castle

References and external links

• Hồ castle (in Vietnamese)

References

1. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1358