Hoi An Ancient Town – Used to be a very busy and vibrant trading port, but that does not overwhelm the ancient atmosphere of this place. Life is still calm even though it has been hundreds of years, when there are many places out there that are still constantly growing and developing. The old mossy roofs, the streets filled with the colors of the lanterns and the ancient buildings… all make you feel like you’re back in the past. Danangprivatecar.com’s introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town today will help you better understand this ancient town.
Introduction to Hoi An Ancient Town and some information you need to know
Where is Hoi An Ancient Town located?
Hoi An Ancient Town is a famous city of Quang Nam province, located in the lower Thu Bon River, in the coastal plain of the province. It is about 30 km from the center of Da Nang city to the south, to the east by the East Sea, to the south by Duy Xuyen district and to the west by Dien Ban district.
Another name for Hoi An
Few people know that before it was called Hoi An, this town also had another rather strange name, which is Faifo. This name probably began to be used by Portuguese merchants from the first half of the 16th century, in the 17th and 18th centuries, it became more and more popular.
In a broad sense, Faifo means geographical space including seaports, ports and wharves and markets, where goods and products are gathered. In a narrow sense, Faifo is just the area that is now Hoi An Ancient Town.
See also: The latest updated price list of tickets to visit Hoi An ancient town 2023
Entering the 17th century, Faifo has almost become the official place to talk about this trading port. The previous name Hoai Pho gradually faded over time and gradually changed to Hoai Pho. At the same time, the modern name Hoi An appeared, gradually it was officially used and known to the whole world.
History of formation and development of Hoi An ancient town
Hoi An was born in the second half of the 16th century under the rule of the Le Dynasty. In 1527, Mac Dang Dung won the Le house and the Dong Kinh area at that time took over the management of the Mac dynasty. Then in 1533, Nguyen Kinh on behalf of the Le Dynasty established an army against the Mac Dynasty and after Nguyen Kim died, his son-in-law Trinh Kiem came to power.
In 1558, Nguyen Hoang – the third son of Nguyen Kim with his family and soldiers retired to settle in Thuan Hoa area. Also from 1570, Nguyen Hoang took control of Quang Nam and along with Nguyen Phuc Nguyen as his son built a fortress, planned to develop the domestic economy, expand trade with foreign countries (mainly in Vietnam). Japan, China and some Western countries). From here, Hoi An became the busiest international trading port in Southeast Asia.
See More: You flight from your country to Danang Airport for your holiday in Central of Vietnam. You wonder which is the best transfer service from Danang Airport to Hoi An: Da Nang Airport or Da nang Hotel To Hoi An Private car is the best choice for you.
About Hoi An ancient town, what is so special that makes it so attractive?
In 1999, Hoi An was officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Since then, it has become a destination that attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to visit. So, what makes this ancient city attractive?
Hoi An impressive traditional architecture
Hoi An is famous for its traditional and harmonious architectural beauty of old houses, walls and roads. Although it has been through hundreds of years with many events, this place still retains the ancient beauty, mossy silence on each tile roof, tree line…
The type of house here has a cool tubular architecture, full of sunlight. Streets are arranged horizontally along a chessboard style with short, winding streets, embracing small houses that look very nice. Walking around each small and peaceful street, visitors will surely feel like returning to the space of hundreds of years ago, it feels comfortable and light.
Hoi An has many typical monuments
This place has many old quarters also built in the 16th century and still exists almost intact with more than 1000 ancient architectural relics from streets, houses to temples, pagodas, ancient wells… One of them must mention the Covered Bridge – a unique work, an architectural feature with Vietnamese architectural style. Not only was it chosen to be printed on the 20,000 dong note, but it is considered as a featured image and an invaluable asset of Pho Hoi.
Hoi An Ancient Town has a rich culinary background
An introduction to Hoi An ancient town cannot be ignored. The image of the old town not only shows up with old houses, temples or streets, but also has a culinary paradise for believers who love to eat. Not only rich and diverse dishes, but all dishes have bold flavors typical of this place.
Although it is only a small street, it takes a lot of time to enjoy all the specialties of Hoi An. It can be mentioned as chicken rice, Quang noodles, Cao Lau, bread, pound cake – fried mussels, banh beo, cauldron cake, gravy, tea, etc. will definitely make you “nod” to compliment them.
Hoi An has unique traditional festivals
Because it used to be a busy trading port, a place of exchange and trade with many different countries, Hoi An culture was also influenced by these countries. That has created different festivals, beliefs and customs, as a highlight in the picture of Hoi An.
In addition to the native customs of the Vietnamese, there are also customs and habits of the foreign resident community to settle down, such as: the custom of worshiping stones, worshiping the Ong fish of coastal fishermen. In addition, Hoi An people also regularly organize festivals or other cultural and religious activities such as Tet Nguyen Tieu, Tet Thanh Minh, Doan Ngo, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc. Especially on the 14th and 15th full moon days of the lunar calendar every month. . Visitors to Hoi An also have the opportunity to experience folk activities: Bai Choi, Ho drill, fake rice …
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The architecture of Hoi An ancient town makes the image attractive to tourists
House style in the old town
There are no high-rise buildings with modern design. The common type of house here is the one or two-story townhouse with narrow width but very long and deep length creating a tubular house.
The materials used to build houses have high strength and durability. Normally, a house in Pho Hoi will have a typical structure of a wooden frame house, separated by brick walls on both sides. The width of the house is only about 4 – 8 m wide, 10 – 40 m deep. The layout will include: sidewalk, porch, main house, outbuildings, porch, bridge, house after 3 compartments, garden. Although small, it is airy and full of sunshine.
Roof tiles
The architectural style of the houses in Hoi An ancient town lies not only in the design of the house shape but also in the tile roof. Most of them are roofed in the form of 2 roofs, the main house and the annex do not share one roof but are two adjacent roofs, very few government roofs on the annex. When roofing, people will arrange a row of tiles facing up, followed by a row of tiles facing down. After roofing is completed, the tiles will be fixed by meals, forming a strip of tiles that protrude along the roof. This makes the entire roof tile look sturdy and strong.
The roof is built high in a rectangular shape like a box. Overall, it seems to be out of balance, but this decoration makes Hoi An’s house impressive, creating its own beauty.
Streets
Different from the image of wide, straight asphalt roads like other big cities. Streets in the Old Quarter are arranged horizontally along a chessboard style with short, winding streets, hugging small beautiful houses.
Coming here, visitors just need to walk around these streets to feel the life of the people of Hoi An. Especially on these roads you will encounter golden walls, colorful flower trellises and even small alleys. All are favorite “virtual living” spots of most tourists.
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Introducing Hoi An ancient town and typical monuments
As mentioned, after more than 400 years of formation and development, Hoi An still retains more than 100 ancient relics. All of them have their own characteristics that almost everyone who comes here wants to visit and explore. Some notable monuments include the following:
Covered Bridge – historical relic of the old town
Whenever mentioning the ancient town of Hoi An, it is definitely impossible to ignore this project. Covered Bridge, also known as Japanese Covered Bridge, is a unique and typical architectural work here. The temple was built mainly by Japanese merchants who came here to trade in the middle of the 16th century. Due to the influence of natural disasters and epidemics, the temple has undergone many restorations, so it gradually lost the details of Japanese architecture. Instead, there are Vietnamese-Chinese architectural features.
The pagoda has the shape of Cong, the bridge is made of curved wooden planks that cross the creek through the Hoai River. The roof of the car is gently curved and carved with many delicate motifs. On the side of the bridge there is a small temple worshiping the god Bac To Tran Vu. At the two ends, there are two groups of wooden monkey and dog statues. This is a prominent attraction, as well as a virtual check-in point for many tourists.
Tan Ky ancient house is more than 150 years old
When introducing Hoi An ancient town, this factor must be mentioned. Tan Ky ancient house is honored to become a national heritage. This used to be a place to welcome national and international politicians and politicians. This ancient house combines Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese architectural styles with a characteristic tubular shape, consisting of 2 overlapping horizontal bars and 5 vertical bars.
The house dates back more than 150 years. Over the years, it is still preserved quite intact in terms of lighting, architecture and interior decoration, but when visiting, you will partly understand the lifestyle of generations of owners, people of the merchant class. in the commercial port of Hoi An before.
Assembly Hall of Fujian(Phuc Kien) – typical Chinese architecture
This is also a typical work in the list of famous monuments in Ho An. Legend has it that the forerunner of the Assembly Hall was a small shrine worshiping the statue of Thien Hau Thanh Mau – the protector of fishermen and merchants. Through many restorations, with the contribution of Hoa Lieu state of Fujian, the assembly hall became more and more brilliant and spacious as if it adorned the appearance of the old town.
Magnificent Ong Pagoda
Ong Pagoda was built in 1653 and has undergone 6 restorations in 1753, 1783, 1827, 1862, 1904 and the last time in 1906. This is one of the ancient temples of Hoi An, owned by Hoi An. majestic architecture. In the temple worshiping Quan Van Truong statue, it is also known as Quan Cong Mieu. In addition to being a place of worship for local people, Ong Pagoda is also a place where traders often come to pray for good luck and prosper in business.
History and culture museum
Coming to Hoi An ancient town, tourists often visit the museum of history and culture. This museum was built in 1989, now displays 212 corner artifacts and valuable documents in ceramics, bronze, wood, paper, etc. All of these reflect the development stages of the trade. Hoi An port from the time of Sa Huynh culture to the period of Cham culture and Dai Viet and Dai Nam culture. When visiting, visitors will understand more about the history as well as the thickness of the old town.
In addition to these relics, Hoi An also impresses tourists near and far by many other names such as: Quan Thang ancient house, Phung Hung ancient house, Trieu Chau Assembly hall, Cantonese assembly hall, Tran family church, Bao. Trade Ceramics Museum, Sa Huynh Culture Museum…
Introducing Hoi An Ancient Town – The City of Titles
Hoi An with its peaceful and timeless beauty, with cultural exchanges from many countries, with unique traditional festivals, with traditional ancient architectures, etc. appear in the votes of foreign guests. Since becoming an attractive and world-famous destination, Hoi An has excellently occupied many high positions in the world tourism rankings, so much so that it is called the city of titles. , namely:
- Top favorite destinations in Asia . Readers of Conde Nast Traveler (USA) magazine have ranked this ancient city in Central Vietnam in second place in the list of the most favorite destinations in Asia.
- Top 17 most beautiful “selfie” spots in the world . Buzzfeed Travel ranked Hoi An Heritage 3rd among the favorite destinations for tourists who love to take pictures, the most attractive being the old town.
- Top 10 most romantic cities in the world . Hoi An was voted as one of the 10 most romantic cities in the world by Indiatimes, where it is a unique blend of charm and serenity of old remnants and modern elements.
- Top destinations with the most famous canals in the world . According to Touropia poll, previously Hoi An ranked 4th in the ranking after only Vnice, Amsterdam and Bruges in terms of cities with the most famous canals on the planet.
- Top destinations with historical value in the world . In 2008, National Geographic magazine (USA) ranked this ancient city as one of 110 destinations with historical value in the world based on many criteria: environment, ecology, culture – society, works. , historical archeological site…
Along with that is a series of other titles: 5 of the 10 best tourist destinations in Asia according to the website Trip Advisor (June 2013); The most attractive tourist city in the world according to the travel magazine Wanderlust – UK (January 31, 2013); The most unique and attractive destination in Vietnam voted by Huffington Post magazine – USA (October 2013); Hoi An – One of the cheapest backpacking cities in Asia voted by travel website priceoftravel.com (January 2014)… and many more titles.
So, what are some interesting experiences when traveling to Hoi An ancient town?
With the above titles is enough to know how attractive Hoi An tourism is, right? Coming here, in addition to visiting the above works and monuments, there are many other interesting things. Some typical experiences must be enjoyed such as:
Strolling around the colorful lantern street
Walking in the old town and looking at the old houses and colorful lantern streets at night will make you feel like you are lost in a gala of lights. Twinkling lights, constantly changing colors create a wonderful color picture, attracting visitors from all over the world. Quiet, ancient neighborhood with romantic lights like soothing your soul. This is a memorable experience for everyone when visiting Hoi An lantern town .
See More: Hoi An Lantern Festival 2023 – 2024: Immerse yourself in the traditional beauty of the old town
Release lanterns and take a boat trip on Hoai River
At night, besides watching the old town, lanterns, visitors can experience the activity of releasing lanterns on Hoai River. The simple handmade lamps, but imbued with traditional culture here are lit up and released along the drifting water in the hope of bringing luck and peace to everyone. After releasing the lanterns, visitors can take a boat ride on Hoai River and admire the beautiful scenery on both sides.
Participate in folk games
In the evening, after walking around, compress your legs and spend time “rushing” at the beginning of Nguyen Thai Hoc Street or Kazil Park to immerse yourself in the bustling atmosphere of folk games such as blindfold beating. pot, go to the bridge, throw the ring and especially Bai Choi. Not only giving visitors a feeling of excitement, but also creating opportunities for players to receive small but meaningful gifts.
Take a photo in Hoi An
And it would be remiss to come to Hoi An without taking “virtual life” photos. Hoi An used to be in 3rd place in the list of the best places to take selfies in the world according to BuzzFeed Travel Website. This place has countless corners to check-in, from golden walls, confetti to the streets, alleys, banks of Hoai River or Cau Pagoda, etc., all of which easily produce shimmering pictures. .
Introducing Hoi An ancient town, what dishes should you try?
Not too much, but Hoi An is also famous for a lot of traditional dishes and snacks. Therefore, coming here, visitors can easily find their favorite specialty dishes of the old town at any restaurant or shop. Some typical dishes that almost everyone who comes here wants to try are:
- Hoi An high floor
- Quang noodles
- Hoi An Chicken Rice
- Dumplings – cauldron cakes
- Grilled skewers with wet cake
- Hoi An Tea
- Stir-fried mussels, battered cakes
Here, visitors can combine eating and drinking in small eateries located close to the Thu Bon River and watching the scenery at night, it will be very interesting.
Hoi An ancient town has always been like that, still bringing a unique beauty in each street corner and roof. A place for visitors to clearly feel the warmth in each dish, the friendly smile of the people. Lost in the old town, you will feel peaceful, strangely gentle, even love this land. Hopefully through the information introduced about this Hoi An ancient town will help you better understand and have more interesting experiences when visiting.
