Thăng Long Imperial Citadel nominated as world heritage site

VGP – Documentations of the ancient imperial citadel of Thăng Long–Hà Nội have been submitted to UNESCO for recognition as a world cultural heritage site.

October 06, 2008 4:13 PM GMT+7

A corner of the archaeological excavation of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel

The 862-page file is attached to 435 slides and a documentary film on the vestiges of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel.

Both domestic and UNESCO experts assessed that the file had been scientifically and carefully documented so as to highlight the site’s global outstanding values.

Ever being Việt Nam’s political and economic hub in the past, the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel is of special historical significance, since it is the harmonious convergence of oriental architectural styles, building techniques, urban planning, plastic arts, and large-scale landscape architecture for centuries.

The major works in the site include the Flag Tower, the Main Southern Gate, the Palace for Royal Audience, Princesses’ Pavilion, the Northern Gate, House D67 and the archaeological site at 18 Hoàng Diệu Street.

The center of the heritage site consists of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel (138,000 square meters) and the archaeological site at 18 Hoàng Diệu Street (48,000 square meters).

As scheduled, on November 15, the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee (SWHC) will provide feedback and suggestion for Việt Nam to complete the official documentations for submission before February 1, 2009. In June or July 2009, SWHC will convene its annual meeting considering and assessing all heritage documentations.

The Thăng Long Imperial Citadel meets three criteria of the World Heritage Convention:

- Displaying the huge interference of humane values in a certain historic period of time or within a cultural region of the world, denoting the development of architecture, or representing a grandiose work;

- Representing the unique proof or at least distinction of a cultural tradition;

- Directly connecting to events or traditions which still exist in the present-day life, or to globally outstanding artistic or literary works.

By Hương Giang