Featured - Palaces of the World

Vietnam: stone dragons and the lost palace of Hanoi

On September 29, in front of a staircase guarded by stone dragons, Vietnam launched the reconstruction of Kính Thiên Palace, the throne room of the ancient imperial city of Hanoi. Tô Lâm, Secretary General of the Party and President of the Republic, attended with the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center. The dragons have been there since 1467. They saw the Lê palace collapse, an imperial residence succeed it, then the colonial artillery installed in its place. Six meters of earth were excavated to find the rest. A staircase has survived; Anything higher will have to be proven, and what the excavations best prove is a 17th century palace, not the one of legend.

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