Vietnam’s most ancient citadel conserved

The capital city of Hanoi has launched a project to conserve the Co Loa relics site, Vietnam’s oldest citadel, dating back to the stone age, at a cost of over 27 billion VND (roughly 1.5 million USD). The Relics Site Managing Board said the project would cover surveys, research, mapping and evaluation of the site so as to work out concrete measures for its conservation.
A website will be set up to help collect information on the site.
The project includes the construction of museums and an out-door exhibition ground with relics of moats and bastions, temples and ancient villages.
These places will also be used to hold traditional festivals and rituals to relive the legends as well as traditions and customs of the ancient Vietnamese.
Located in the Hanoi suburbs, the Co Loa citadel is a site of relics of mixed architectural styles, related to different stages of Vietnamese history, from the stone to the bronze and iron ages.
Archaeologists evaluated the site as being “on the largest-scale, the oldest, and in the most specific architectural style” in the history of citadel building by ancient Vietnamese.