As one of the ten most beautiful ancient villages in Viet Nam, Dong Son ancient village, situated by the Ma River in Ham Rong ward, Thanh Hoa province’s Thanh Hoa city, is attractive to visitors for its peaceful beauty, historical architecture, and Dong Son archaeological relics.
The history of the village is associated with the upheavals of the history of Thanh Hoa. It reflects the development of the locality from the time of Hung Kings to the modern age.
Touring the thousand-year village, tourists will be firstly impressed by the archaeological beauty of the Dong Son Culture which has been famous all around the world since the 20th century. They will be then impressed by characteristic elements of Vietnam’s traditional Southern villages with small lanes, ancient pagodas, temples, communal houses, and wells. To reach small lanes, tourists can only enter the village through a main gateway.
Dong Son ancient village is considered as a typical Vietnamese village as it retains a system of tangible and intangible cultural values and villagers observe a 100-article village convention on communal land management, funeral, wedding, etc. In addition, the village is divided into sub-villages which classify locals by their spiritual life. For example, Van (Literature) sub-village is home to Chinese script learners, while Vo (martial arts) sub-village gathers those who serve in the military and Nhac (Music) sub-village is for those who are interested in music.
Together with keeping the values of religious relics, including temples, communal houses, and epitaph, the village preserves its annual festival on the third day of the third lunar month with a wide range of rituals in commemoration of the village founder.
Recently, the provincial People’s Committee has launched the tour to the village as an effort to preserve and promote cultural values and create an interesting tourism product of the province. Joining the tour, visitors have an opportunity to learn about and experience Dong Son culture and visit interesting tourism destinations, including the national relic of the Le Uy - Tran Khat Chan Temple, Dong Son archaeological relics, provincial-level relic of Dong Son pagoda, and an over 200-year-old ancient house of Luong Trong Due's family. Tourists will ramble through the village’s four lanes, including Nhan (Humanity), Nghia (Righteousness), Tri (Wisdom), and Dung (Bravery).