DUONG LAM ANCIENT VILLAGE – ANTIQUE ARCHITECTURE WITH PEACEFUL ATMOSPHERE
Duong Lam Ancient Village, dating back hundreds of years, is located about 50 km west of Hanoi. Duong Lam is famous for specific traits of architecture and art belonging to ancient village of the Red River Delta.
Visitors will be so surprised when Duong Lam has retained the basic traits of antique Vietnamese village with the village gate, banyan tree, watering-place, communal yard, well, … The center of this ancient village is Mong Phu hamlet, where the oldest village gate was built in Hau Le dynasty (1428-1789). The gate’s architecture is different from the traditional ones’ in the North of Vietnam. The gate is like the house with a gable roof located right on the way leading to the village. Mong Phu hamlet gate with banyan tree and watering-place create a peaceful picture. Stepping foot on tiled roads, visitors can feel the unique characteristics of an old northern village with clay-tiled roofs, laterite walls, and ancient architectures – the identity of a purely agricultural village. Duong Lam in the rice harvesting time (around May and June every year) is covered by a colorful picture of the countryside with the dark brown of the laterite walls and the golden of grain and straw drying in the sun. The sparkling yellow rice paddies bring the fluttering rice scent in the wind in the yellow sunshine.
The poetic beauty at Duong Lam village gate (Source: Internet)
The roads in Duong Lam are also unique. They are arranged in a fishbone shape – there is one main road where every other small road is connected. With architectural design, when going from the temple of the village, people will not turn back to the door, showing respect to those who are worshiped there. And the villagers are able to take any road to house. The roads here are dead ends and they are very clean and clear.
The charming scenery in Duong Lam village is created by the appearance of 956 old houses made of a variety of materials ( terracotta bricks, tiles, laterite, wood, etc). These houses have the structure, consisting of 5 or 7 compartments. Many of them were built in 1649, 1703, 1850, etc. Characteristics of these old houses are all built from blocks of laterite. Besides, they are surrounded by laterite walls and have high thresholds. Laterite will keep these houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Each house has the lower yard so that rainwater can flows from the outside into the yard before flowing into the drain. The old houses with antique architecture really catch the interest of visitors. Also, the visitors will feel regretful, when missing the old wells in the village.
The laterite walls are common in ancient villages (Source: Internet)
With the long history architecture, Duong Lam is the first ancient village recognized as National Historical & Cultural Monument in 2006. By 2014, the Hanoi People’s Committee had officially launched The Plan for Conservation, Embellishment, and Promotion of the value of Duong Lam Ancient Village. The people of Duong Lam must be very proud of the cultural and historical value of the village because the ancient beauty of the houses and landscapes cannot be found
-By Tu Lam-