Two architectural artefacts have recently been unearthed at the Ho Dynasty Citadel, the world cultural heritage site.
Archaeological findings included 89 rectangle-shaped limestone and schist pieces with dimensions of 1.7 x 1.1 metres and various kinds of terra-cotta objects such as tiles, bricks, enamel pottery and crockery dating from the Tran (13 th century), Ho (1350-1410) and Le So (1428-1528) dynasties, along with bullets, curling stones, iron arrows and chisels.
The artefacts consists of a 61 metre wide moat; 89 monolithic columns made out of limestone and shale, and a number of pieces of pottery and building bricks. Most of the buildings inside the Citadel have been destroyed. Traces of the foundations of the old palaces lie hidden under the rice fields.
The Ho Dynasty Citadel trench was not only a guard station but also a workshop for whittling stones to construct the citadel. The Ho Dynasty Citadel, located in the two communes of Vinh Tien and Vinh Long, the central Thanh Hoa province, is a unique stone-made Vietnamese architectural work.
According to archaeologists at the Centre for Ho Dynasty Citadel Heritage Conservation, the discovery is of significance to the conservation, management and promotion of the heritage site.
