Hue Imperial Citadel | rama toshi arya's blog

Welcome to my travel guide on royal Hue.

Often reduced to an overnight visit enroute to colourful Hoi An or sidelined completely for Vietnam’s buzzing metropolises and beach cities, Hue is where Vietnamese history and culture bask in full authentic glory.

For 143 years, from 1802 to 1945, the city on the banks of the Perfume river in the middle of the country served as the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, Vietnam’s last royal ruling family. Prior to this, Hue had been the capital of their predecessors—the Nguyen Lords, a feudal noble clan, since 1558.

The Nguyen empire marked a period of dramatic flux in the country’s history. Starting off as an isolationist Confucianism-driven kingdom of unified Viet Nam, it morphed into a military might to reckon with, on to an eclectic marriage of European and Vietnamese cultural elements, before being ousted in 1945.

Thirteen Nguyen emperors ruled from Hue’s Imperial Citadel during these years—a fortress-cum-administration centre-cum-royal residence. It is where military decisions to conquer neighbouring lands, followed by agreements to relinquish the same lands to French colonial rulers were drawn and sealed.

In and around the city, seven of Hue’s 13 emperors designed and built their grand tombs to be remembered by. These reflected not just their personalities, philosophies, and aspirations as rulers, but also the prevailing geopolitical scenarios.

Whilst the UNESCO-listed Imperial Citadel and royal tombs took care of the Nguyen emperors’ lives and afterlives, patronage of spiritual places continued unabated. An age-old royal practice, it ensured the gods were kept happy and added a touch of divinity to dynastic rule.

Yes, Hue has all this and even more!

Dear Reader, I hope you find this travel guide useful as I take you along Hue’s imperial history, connecting its rich and varied monuments to the city’s incredible story. ❤

Table of Contents: