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Quang Tri Citadel |
Location: Quang Tri, Vietnam |
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Quang Tri Citadel is situated in the central of Quang Tri Town.
Quang Tri Citadel was a military bastion and it was also an administrative head office of Nguyen Dynasty in Quang Tri Province (1809 -1945).
Quang Tri Citadel was built in 1824, during the 4th year of the reign
of Minh Mang. The citadel is approximately 60km north of Hue.
The citadel had a style of Vo-bang architecture with its circuit of
2.160 metres – one door each side. There were four fortressed jutting
out from each four corners to control the four citadel gates. Inside
was the town palace surrounded by a system of thick walls with circuit
of 400 metres. The town palace was a three-roomed house whose two wings
were used as places for the King to worship, and to give promotions to
his inferiors or to occasionally celebrate festivals. Outside the town
palace, there were a flagpole and castles such as Tuan Vu, An Sat and
Lanh Binh and a rice store, etc and under the French domination,
soldier camp and tax agency were added. However there are no remains of
the past there nowadays – due to the destruction of U.S bombs in the
hot summer of 1972.
The incident of 81 days and nights (from June 28 to September 16, 1972)
has made this citadel well-known all over the world. By using
fire-power, the South Vietnam puppet troop was determined to re-occupy
Quang Tri Citadel within a couple of days. Quang Tri Town, therefore,
had to suffer from the U.S bombardment and shelling of 140 B52 aircraft
in turn, more than 200 tactical planes, 12 – 16 fighter planes and
cruisers. Within 40 days and nights it had suffered 80,000 tons of
bombs – as many as that in the World War II in African battlefield
within a month. Sometimes the number of bombs dropped in Quang Tri a
day was far more than that on the whole South battlefield in the years
of 1968-1969. Especially, on July 25, there were 5,000 shells fired at
an area of 3km2 of Quang Tri and its vicinity once suffered 20,000
shells of big size a day. The US aggressors used bombs and shells with
their destructive capacity, to destroy Quang Tri, equivalent to 7
atomic bombs they dropped onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Japan in 1945.
It is, really, unbelievable that each inhabitant in this land had to
suffer 7 tons of bombs averagely. All were determined, side by side
with Quang Tri to fight to their last breath. The Northern people had
saved everything such as: ammunition, food and etc. to send to Quang
Tri.
The citadel has gone down in history as a glorious period of the
nation’s war against foreign invasion. The Vietnamese people are proud
of it, and foreigners admire it.
Looking at its walls riddled with bullet holes, visitors will feel how
devastating the war was. In order to commemorate the soldiers’
meritorious service, a monument was set up in the centre of the citadel
as a symbol of the indomitable spirit of the Quang Tri people and army
and as a token of gratitude to the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers
for the independence and freedom of the nation.
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Related tours |
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 Sai Gon - My Lai - Quang Tri DMZ - Hanoi |
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8 days War memory |
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1 day back to DMZ |
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More attraction |
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Hoang A Tuong Castle (Hoang Yen Chao Castle) |
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Xuong Giang Ancient Citadel |
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Dien Hai Citadel |
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Son Tay Citadel |
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Vinh Hung Ancient Tower |
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