Monday, July 20, 2009

Vietnam

And these are the other 4 cards Aletta sent me, all from Vietnam.

"The Presidential Palace of Vietnam, located in the city of Hanoi, was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina. Like most French Colonial architecture, the palace is pointedly European- the only visual cues that it is located in Vietnam at all are mango trees growing on the grounds.
When Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the grand structure for symbolic reasons, although he still received state guests there, and he eventually built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house and carp pond on the grounds. Today, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum stands nearby and the Presidential Palace remains part of Hanoi's cultural core. The palace hosts government meetings. It is not open to the public, although one may walk around the grounds for a fee." - in: wikipedia

Turtle Tower is a small tower in the middle of Sword Lake in Hanoi.
"According to legend, in the 1500's a golden sword was taken from Emperor Le Thai To by a turtle in the lake. In some tellings of the tale, the turtle was heroically returning the sword to the lake where it belonged. In others, the turtle supplied the gold sword to the Emperor so he could smite his enemies. Still others say the turtle stole the sword and the Emperor had the lake drained looking for it. And in another variation, the turtle indicated to the Emperor which way his troops should go to win the war. In any case, this shrine was erected to commemorate the a turtle and a sword." - in: http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/661.php
Thien Dihn residence in the Emperor Khai Dihn's mausoleum.
Khai Dinh (in his reign from 1916 - 1925) is the 12th King of Nguyen (Nguyễn) dynasty, was in throne at the age of 31. The mausoleum is located 10 km's from Hue and started to be build in 1920. It was only completed after 11 years.

"Thai Hoa Palace (the Palace of Supreme Peace) was built in 1805 in the style of architectural designs made for the construction of the other structures like shrines, palaces and mausoleums in the imperial city of Hue in the 19th century. The size of the structure is about 1,300 sq. meters. The main hall is 43.3 meters long and 30.3 meters wide. The palace is made of two separate halls. The front hall is called ante-chamber and the other is billed as the main hall where is erected throne of the king.
This is the most significant place in the royal palace. It was used for the king's official receptions and other important court ceremonies such as anniversaries and coronations."
- in: http://www.vietnamstay.com/attraction/hue/index.htm

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