The ancient village of Cu Da, in Cu Khe commune, Thanh Oai district of Hanoi, is not only famous for dozens of intact ancient houses of the Northern Delta region, but also undamaged French-styled houses.

The gate of Cu Da communal house

About 20km to the west of Hanoi downtown, Cu Da village bears a unique cultural space. 

The houses here still preserve the typical architecture of the Northern Delta of the old time of either three-compartments (Nha Ba Gian) or five-compartments (Nha Nam Gian). 

In addition, the village boasts the elegant French colonial two-storey houses built hundred years ago or so. 

According to the statistics of the Thanh Oai district, the architectural treasure of Cu Da ancient village  consists of  51 houses built in the traditional style of the Northern Delta region, dating from around 200 years ago; two houses built with French colonial style and   20 houses of Oriental architectural style.

The age old ambiance of the village remains intact defying the test of time. Ancient trees, fish-scale communal house roofs, Buddhist pagoda, the village gates, old houses all  that make visitors feel like going back hundreds of years.

Thanks to the favorable location for trade, the village is prosperous and wealthy. Its thrived the most by late 19th and early 20th centuries. At that time, the village was dubbed  “entrepreneur village”. 

However, there’re thieves mingling with visitors against public order and security, so the houses have gates besides the gates at the entrance of every hamlet which wooden door closed at night.  

The village roads were built of brick with a running bond pattern. Above all, this is the first and only village in Vietnam where houses got numbered, lanes and hamlets have signboards like in the city. 

This is rarely seen in any village in the Northern Delta region and the whole country.

Cu Da temple

Coming to Cu Da, visitors not only discover the ancient features of the village, but also see local people making two specialties of the region that are "Ban" soy sauce (Tuong Ban) and glass noodles (Mien Dong). 

The production of “Ban” soy sauce was associated with the establishment of the village. There are 9-10 tons of glass  noodles made every day, thus, making the local people busy and bustling.

Cu Da ancient village is a tourist destination in Hanoi for those who love to learn architecture, Vietnamese history, traditional craft village or who simply come here to be immersed in the peaceful scene and feel like time is standing.

Hanoitimes