VietNamNet Bridge – The Center for Preservation of Hue Relics has made an archaeological survey at Quan Tuong Dai, the observatory of the Nguyen Dynasty and the only ancient observatory remained in Vietnam.



Quan Tuong Dai is located on Nam Minh fortress, to southwestern Hue citadel. This used to be the hydro-meteorological observatory of the Nguyen Dynasty. King Minh Mang ordered to build Bat Phong house in 1827. Together with the retrogression of the Nguyen Dynasty, this observatory stopped operation. It is now a ruin. This is the sole observatory of the feudal time left in Vietnam.

Being permitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Center for Preservations of Hue Relics implemented archaeological surveys at this site since April 2012.

They dug up three holes for excavation, in order to study the restructure and the foundation of the observatory. They found out that the original foundation was built by bricks from Hanoi’s ancient pottery village of Bat Trang. The Bat Phong is defined as an octagon building, with rather intact foundation.

There are holes for water drainage on the foundation and they are 12-14cm higher than the surrounding yard. The major materials to build this work include wooden-hammer bricks, several kinds of rock, Bat Trang bricks, tiles, lime, etc.

Based on the survey, the observatory will be preserved.

Hereafter are some pictures of the excavation:







The road to Quan Tuong Dai.
The observatory is built by soil, rock and bricks.

Staircases are made by rock, carved with Chinese scripts.






Pieces of rock carved with scripts.






The remaining foundation of Bat Phong, where mandarins stood to observe the weather.






Part of Bat Phong house.





Stone pillars.






Remaining pieces of tiles.






An archaeological hole.











The observatory faces the Huong River.




x

The original foundation made by Bat Trang bricks.













Bricks with seals of the Nguyen Dynasty.











The secret of this observatory will be decoded
completely in the coming time.





This will become an interesting destination after excavation finishes.

Dantri