Co Loa Citadel in Hanoi has been badly damaged by lack of public care and lax management. Co Loa Citadel Co Loa Citadel is 16km away from Hanoi and was the capital of Au Lac Kingdom during the 3rd century BC. It is considered the oldest and has the most unique structures of Vietnam’s citadels and is referenced in the legend of My Chau-Trong Thuy. However it has been damaged and encroached upon illegally for many years. According to the Heritage Conservation Centre of Thang Long – Hanoi, they received 39 reports in 2015, 26 cases in 2016 and 25 cases in 2017. 21 cases were reported to the centre in the first nine months of 2018. Nearly 1,000 households have been living inside the citadels for hundreds of years, before the citadel was recognised as the national heritage site in 1962 and management was extremely lax. In 2006, many households were able to acquire land-use certificates which was inconsistent with heritage law. The walls of the citadel were damaged when people built roads and houses. The moats which were full of water were filled up for rice fields and fish farms. Le Viet Dung, deputy head of Co Loa Management Board, said there were too many management agencies. The management board only manages the temples, old wells and lakes inside the citadel while the rest is managed by Co Loa Commune People’s Committee. Lai Van Toi from the Institute of Imperial Citadel Studies commented that the authorities were too… [Read full story]
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