The Allure of Hoi An Ancient Town
Hoi An – where life spends calm. Hoi An – where time flows like unintentional that anyone will crave the ancient atmosphere. The old tiled roofs covered with moss, the streets filled with red lanterns, the lacquered boards carved elaborately, all of this things seem to be brought back to the several hundred years ago. That is just a simple part of Hoi An ancient town but it is enough to make people fall in love and forget the way.
Where is Hoi An Ancient Town?
Hoi An Ancient Town is an ancient town located in the downstream of the Thu Bon River, in the coastal plain of Quang Nam province, Vietnam. Distance from Da Nang city about 30 km to the South – was recognized as an UNESCO world heritage site in 1999. This is a place that attracts many tourists to Da Nang – Hoi An.
Hoi An is a city of Quang Nam province with many old towns were built in the 16th century and still were remained almost intact to Today. In ancient Western documents, Hoi An is called Faifo.
Being the only traditional Southeast Asian Commercial Port in Vietnam, rare in the world. Hoi An has preserved almost intact more than a thousand architectural relics such as streets, houses, assembly halls, communal houses, pagodas, temples, clan churches, ancient wells, ancient tombs… Coming here, you will have the opportunity to admire the architecture that has both the traditional artistic nuances of Vietnam and the cultural exchanging and integration between Eastern and Western countries.
Most of the houses here are traditional architectures which had The Age from the 17th to the 19th century, distributed along narrow streets. They interspersed between the townhouses, religious and belief architectural constructions to demonstrate in the process of formation, development and weaken of the city. Hoi An was also the land that brought many the imprints of the cultural interference and exchange. Assembly halls and temples still kept traces of the Chinese which was stayed next to traditional Vietnamese townhouses and houses with French architectural style. Besides the cultural values through architectural constructions, Hoi An also was preserving a diverse and abundant intangible culture with cultural festivals that are being preserved and promoted along with traditional craft villages, traditional cuisine…. The daily life of the ancient town’s residents with customs, religious activities, folk arts, and cultural festivals was still being preserved and developed. Hoi An is considered a living museum of architecture and urban lifestyle. This made Hoi An increasingly to become an attractively destination for tourists from all over the world.
The Architecture
Hoi An is famous with the traditional architectural beauty, the harmony of houses, walls and streets. Along with the ups and downs of history, Hoi An Ancient Town still keeps the ancient beauty, covered in moss in every tiled roof, brick, row of trees… just like the simple character, the honest and simple soul of the local people.
The most popular types of house in Hoi An is the one or two-floor townhouses with a narrow width and very long depth, creating a tube-shaped house. The main materials used to build houses here very strong and durable due to cope the harsh climate and annual storms and floods of this area. The houses usually have a wooden frame structure, with brick walls staying in the two sides. The average area of the houses is about 4 to 8 meters wide, about 10 to 40 meters deep, varying according to each street. The common overalls plan of the houses here includes: sidewalk, porch, main house, outhouse, toilet and courtyard, three-room back house, back garden.
Tile roof
The houses in Hoi An are built with two roofs, most of the main house and the outhouse do not have the same a roof but two adjacent roofs. Very few cases, the main house roof covers the part of the outhouse. On the contrary, most of the toilet rooms are covered with four roofs. In general, the front house, the toilet room and the outhouse are covered with separate roofs. Tiles in Hoi An are made from clay, thin, roughly baked, square, each side is about 22cm and a bit curved. When roofing, the people arrange a tile row with facing up first and then to be a tile row with facing down.
The Street
The streets in the old town are arranged horizontally and vertically as a chessboard pattern with short, beautiful, winding streets, embracing the houses. Walking through each of these small and peaceful streets, you can not only enjoy delicious food but also see a part of the daily life of Hoi An people, a peaceful and simple life.
Relics
Japanese Covered Bridge (is a footbridge with a temple atop, located in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam) – One of the historical relics of Hoi An Ancient Town
When mentioning Hoi An, you certainly do not want to miss the “symbol of Hoi An” – the Japanese Covered Bridge. The Japanese Covered Bridge, also known as the Japanese Pagoda, is located between Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and Tran Phu Street, and is a unique and typical architectural construction in Hoi An. This pagoda was built in the mid-16th century. by Japanese merchants who came to trade here.
Tan Ky Ancient House
This ancient house is honored to become a National Heritage and is the only place to welcome Heads of State and politicians from domestic and foreign. The ancient house combines Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architectural styles. With the typical tubular architecture of the ancient town with two overlapping horizontal bars, symbolizing God and human, 5 vertical bars symbolizing the five Elements. The harmonious architecture of the house expresses the dream of harmony between human and nature in Hoi An.
Quan Thang Ancient House – One of the attractive tourist destinations in Hoi An
Hoi An Ancient Town always owns the private beauty in every corner, every roof, and on the small roads. Coming here, you can feel the warmth in every cuisine, from the friendly and close smiles of the local people. Even the trees and space in here are also attractive to visitors.
Walking on every small street, you seem to find yourself in the old days, the beautiful memories of childhood in the strange and beloved land. Hopefully, a few introductions about Hoi An Ancient Town by Happy Tours will help you have interesting and unforgettable experiences when visiting this place.
