Visiting the old villages of a few
hundred years old, you will enjoy the quiet spaces of the countryside and
discover the traditional architecture of Vietnam.
Uoc
Le Village (Làng Ước Lễ)
The Village of Uoc Le in Thanh Oai District is not only known for its traditional product of pork pies, but also for its ancient village gate.
Before the village entrance is an arched bridge of over
2 meters wide, 10 meters long, spanning a wide ditch. Previously, the ditch was
a deep trench surrounding the village, with bamboo trees on the bank. The ditch
and the bamboo trees created a high wall protecting the village from robbers.
Later, the villagers opened many tracks to the field.
On the village gate is the wood board with the script
"My Tuc Kha Phong" (good traditions). In 1880, Emperor Tu Duc went on
an inspection tour in the north and bestowed this noble title on six villages
of Ha Tay Province (part of Hanoi today), including Uoc Le. Uoc Le still has many ancient architectural works.
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| An old well in the village |
Cu
Da Village (Làng Cự Đà)
About 15 km to the west of Hanoi center is the village
of Cu Da. The old village is situated on the bank of the Nhue River, in Thanh
Oai District. Beside the old gates, temples, and communal houses that are
national relics, many old houses in the village are still in their original
condition after more than 100 years.
Cu Da is known as the "village of
entrepreneurs". Since the early 19th century, many villagers went to Hanoi
to do business. After getting wealthy, they returned to Cu Da to build beautiful
houses. Cu Da is also known as the first and only ancient village in Vietnam
with numbered houses, and nameplates for every alley and hamlets in the city.
The most famous product of Cu Da is its soybean sauce.
This is the oldest profession of the village. The villagers process soybean
sauce from sticky rice, soybeans, white salt and rain water.
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| All roads lead to the riverbank. |
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| Houses in Cu Da were designed in Western style, with two storeys, balconies and mosaic facade. |
Dong
Ngac Village (Làng Đông Ngạc)
Located about 10 km from downtown Hanoi, near the
legendary Red River, Dong Ngac Village (formerly known as Ke Ve) in Tu Liem
District is worth a visit to discover the well-preserved traces of its past
that separate it from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
The village is well known for being home of many
high-ranking mandarins during the feudal period in Vietnam. As such, visiting
the village offers you a special chance to learn more about the traditional fondness
of studying Vietnamese.
The village is famous for its large-scale communal house
which is a solemn place where the village’s most important events take place.
It has been in place for about 500 years and is the first thing to catch the
eyes of visitors. The communal house displays a wide collection of ancient
relics dating back hundreds of years such as a set of ancient paintings from
the Le Dynasty (1427 – 1788) which depict the bumper harvests and peaceful,
prosperous life of people and eight paintings praising the vocations of
fishery, forestry, fabric weaving, husbandry, teaching, farming, handicraft and
trading.
There is also another trait of the past which is the old
pagoda called Tu Khanh, known in the past as Ve Pagoda. Even after hundreds of
years the pagoda retains its belltower, a three-door temple gate and the
forecourt. Its statues are believed to contain artistic elements from the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Another village attraction is an ancestral house that
honors Do The Giai, a senior official from the Le – Trinh era (The Trinh were
the noble family that dominated northern Vietnam during most of the Ly Dynasty,
from 1428 to 1788). Visiting the house, you will have chance to listen to many
interesting stories about the village from the host. Time has touched the
ancestral house, but its cultural value remains.
In these days can still see many engravings on the old
gates in Dong Ngac. And in most ancestral houses there are parallel sentences
written in Chinese characters, showing that elders in the village continually
remind the younger generation of the importance of study and acquiring further
knowledge.
Dong Ngac, like many other villages in Vietnam, is
moving forward with the pace of development. But traces of the past can still
be seen here – in the old bricks on the narrow paths around the village and the
stones in the pagoda.
.jpg "Discover Vietnam: Sapa Town information")
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