30/03/2026
The splendour of the imperial palace and citadel in Huế in Central Vietnam is something you simply have to experience — but come prepared. This place is *big*. Nearly 10 kilometres in circumference, surrounded by thick walls six metres high. There are large steps to climb and long garden pathways to meander as you imagine a life vastly different. We spent almost 4 hours and could have taken longer.
Construction began in 1804 under Emperor Gia Long, taking over 27 years to complete. Three layers of walls within walls — the outer citadel, the imperial enclosure, and the innermost Forbidden Purple City — each one a world unto itself.
Within these walls lived emperors, their wives and concubines, the royal court, soldiers, and eunuchs. Life was magnificent for some... and brutal for others.
As a woman, walking these grounds felt extraordinary — because for centuries, women of the empire were forbidden from entering many of these very spaces. The penalty? Death. A warning that needed no repeating.
And the eunuchs — the male attendants of the inner court — paid an unimaginable price for their role. Their removed “poles and rocks” were preserved in jars, kept close, so they could enter the afterlife... whole.
The beauty carved into every stone, the symbolism woven into every gateway, the rituals embedded into every courtyard — it all speaks of a world that was extraordinary, complex, and deeply spiritual.
UNESCO recognised it as a World Heritage Site in 1993. Standing here, it’s easy to understand why.
After the end of the monarchy in 1945, it suffered heavy damage and neglect during the Indochina Wars through the 1980s. and is undergoing continuous restoration.
