Huế’,Vietnam, November 2016.

Huế’s Imperial city is surrounded by a moat and thick walls. Building started in 1804 in the reign of Emperor Gia Long. Until the demise of the Emperors in the mid-1900’s, more moats and building were added. During the Vietnam war, due to Huế’s religious and cultural status, US troops were ordered not to bomb or shell the city, for fear of destroying the historic structures. 

But, as the Tet offensive escalated, restrictions were slowly lifted with street to street fighting ensuing. The end result was that the Imperial city suffered extensive damage. Out of 160 sites, only 10 remain .

In 1993 the site was made a Unesco World Heritage site and repair and renovations continue to this day.

My visit coincided with a morning of thunderstorms, so a taxi ride was necessary to get myself across the Perfume river and to the entrance. As I entered the site the rain stopped. Poor light, clouds and a miserable overcast day but a place to spend several hours soaking up (literally) the atmosphere of Imperial Vietnam.

The elegance of the buildings and tranquility of the gardens, moats and lakes allowed for some quiet reflections on the beauty of my surroundings.

Come and stroll around slowly with me, let’s find some doors and possibly a few other beautiful things in this haven of Vietnam’s imperial past…

The entrance to the Imperial City…

Fairly stern looking doors, I suspect it’s a minions entrance…

A throne room behind these doors, no photographs allowed inside…

Grrr, made me jump, fierce depictions, one on either side…

On the way into the Citadel, an impressive entry….

Some very attractive doors in the facade, but, there are better inside the Citadel…

Windows and Bonsai trees, so lovely…

And this is the ceiling, yes, I could have this ceiling..

A throne, you can just imagine an Emperor, in Imperial red silks surrounded by minions…..

The elegance of these buildings is just so attractive…

Windows perfectly aligned…

and don’t you just love the tiled insert window surrounds…

Arch into the gardens…

Doors to die for….from the inside.

Oh yes, such elegance in this door corridor….

And the outside view is stunning…

So when thinking of doors, plan the facade…

Adding a window helps…

Palace renovators…

Time to have a little rest and reflect…

Photograph flowers on trees…

Watch the ducks in the lake….

and leave by the wrong gate, pass up the Cyclo riders and find I had a 2km walk back to the main road…Ah,well, you live and learn!

Linking with Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton. Pop over and check out some more door posts for today….