Top 5 famous ancient villages for family tours in Vietnam

Vietnamese ancient villages make travelers overwhelmed from the first step not only by the houses that are hundreds years old, but also by the stunning the beauty of the alley, tree space, terminals water, comfortable home and the compacted rustic atmosphere. This is top 5 famous ancient villages in Vietnam nominated by Vietnamese Records.

1. Duong Lam ancient village (Hanoi)

 Duong Lam Village's gateway

Duong Lam ancient village is 4km far from Son Tay town. Two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige. 

The ancient village has a history of about 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years. One special thing about the village is that most of the buildings here are made of literate and mud, two materials that are abundant in the area. Literate is used on house walls, gates, wells, temple walls, and so forth. The mud is taken from ponds. Apart from its historical and tourism values, Duong Lam ancient village is an important place for scientists to study resident communities in ancient agriculture. The village gate, banyan, well, communal house are important factors in classifying Duong Lam ancient village.

2. Phuoc Tich Ancient Village (Thua Thien – Hue)

More than 500 years of existence, through the wars and the destruction of nature, Phuoc Tich village still preserves the pristine beauty of a traditional Vietnamese village.

Phuoc Tich Ancient Village, in the former capital Hue, is an epitome of Vietnam’s peaceful countryside, and famous for the ancient architecture and design of its many old houses and temples. Built in 1470 under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, the village was recognized as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009.

Phuoc Tich Village spreads along the poetic O Lau River at the border of Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces. It has all the features of a typical Vietnamese traditional village. There are river wharfs, temple yards, old pagodas and paths winding among endless tea trees in the village. Temple and domestic structures are dappled with moss.

3. Tuy Loan Ancient Village (Da Nang)

The ancient village of Tuy Loan is located far 15km to the southwest along the National Highway No14B from Danang City. This village is over 500 years old and imbue with mark of traditional and cultural character of Vietnam rural. 

The worshipping house’s Stele of the five families says that five predecessors of the five families Dang, Lam, Nguyen, Tran, Le were called for going to Binh Chiem to widen the country by King Le Thanh Ton. They chose this place, which was named Tuy Loan, to build village to make the living.

The Tuy Loan Village Temple was built in the first year of Thanh Thai’s reign (1889). There is a chronicle of 3-time doctor Nguyen Khue - Thanh Tri - Hanoi that says the event of building this temple on the stellar in the village. The temple includes one forecourt, one main hall made of valuable wood and roofed with tiles. In front of the yard are the pillars, the screen that look bright. Moreover, the house was built to worship the ancestors. The surface of the temple and the worshipping house is 8,008m². Over one century, all still maintain its status quo under the bunya tree. On the 11th, 12th days of the eighth lunar month every year, there is a big anniversary in the village.

The tourists that visit Ba Na, Dai Loc should stop at Tuy Loan to visit the old village, go sightseeing around the market on the watering place, and enjoy the delicious Quang noodles and Tuy Loan "banh trang" to make their trip much more interesting.

4. Phong Nam Ancient Village

Phong Nam Village occupies a large surface of Hoa Chau including Nam Thanh, Tay A, Dong Hoa, Bau Cau. Visiting Phong Nam, the tourists will enjoy the peaceful feelings, the pure fragrance of green grass in the wind and the splashing waves of the romantic riverside village. The tourists must feel enjoyable when visiting the river watering place in Dong Hoa (Xom Hen) which was famous for the shell catching and the words "Dong Hoa ban hen mua trau" (Dong Hoa sells shells to buy buffalos) or visiting the old temple under the big banyan tree of the Tay An (Xom Dong) river watering place.

 

Phong Nam was just only a south part of the large Phong Le Village which is famous for its long history. It is the place that was soon exploited from the Cham period. In the Tran, Le Dynasties, Phong Le used to belong to Dien Ban District. There are many Cham remains, which are now exhibited in Cham Museum- Danang City, found in Phong Le Village. Phong Nam is attractive because of its old architectural works like the pagodas, the regional cathedrals, etc. The village schools, markets are also the interesting places.

Phong Le used to be famous for Muc Dong Festival (the festivals for the children keeping buffalos). This is the festival only for the children keeping the buffalos. It is the festival to honor the importance of agriculture and to long for the better crops.

5. Long Tuyen Ancient Village

This village is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Can Tho city since it contains 6 national relics. It features typical lifestyle in Mekong River Delta with its channel landscapes, orchards, traditional local lifestyle.

Located on the southwest part of Can Tho River, the village used to be a subdivision of Luc Ap before Can Tho Province was incorporated, then it became Binh Hung village during the reign of Thieu Tri king (a king of Nguyễn Dynasty). In 1852, following the arrival of Huynh Man Dat, a province chief who escaped from danger to this site, this village was renamed Binh Thuy.

The communal house, which has existed for over two centuries, will bring another side of Can Tho’s history with its fine architecture and antiques. Built in the 19th century, the Communal House was named Bon Canh Thanh Hoang on November 9th 1893 by King Tu Duc.

Later the Communal House was dedicated to national heroes including Dinh Cong Trang, Nguyen Trung Truc, Bui Huu Nghia and Vo Huy Tap. It was completely renovated in 1910. If you are an architecture enthusiast, you will recognize that the communal house’s architecture is different from communal houses in the north.

The front and the back buildings are square, and its side has six rows of columns, and all the columns’ bases are extra-wide, making these buildings more stable. The roofs of the two front buildings were built overlapping each other. The main temple at the rear has three roofs. The top of the roof is covered with statues of people, lions and fish.

In the front of the building, there are many cement columns. Inside the ancestor-worshipping house, there are altars dedicated to worship the animal gods. It is considered a valuable monument of art and architectural style in the newly-expanded south western area.

Contact Custom Vietnam Travel if you want to have a soft exploration to these famous ancient villages:

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