Turtle Tower

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Description

Turtle Tower, also known as Tortoise Tower (Vietnamese: Thap Rua), is a small tower in the center of Hanoi, in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. In the past, The Thap Rua served as Vietnam’s “Statue of Liberty” before the French replaced it.

The architecture of Turtle Tower is a unique blend of Vietnamese and French colonial styles. On a 350-square-meter-large plot of land, a three-story structure has been constructed. Since the first two floors are larger than the third, the building progressively tapers upwards. On both the ground and first levels, there are three doors on the eastern and western sides and two doors on the southern and northern sides. Horizontal and vertical rails are used to enclose the first and top floors.

According to tradition, a Dragon King helped Le Loi achieve victory by secretly presenting him with a magical sword that gave him the strength to rally his warriors against the Ming army. The blade of the sword was discovered by a fisherman in his net, while the handle was discovered by Le Loi in a banyan tree.

The Vietnamese hero crossed the lake by boat shortly after the battle, when the Dragon King reclaimed the sword in the guise of a turtle. Therefore, Le Loi named the lake Hoan Kiem, which translates as Lake of the Returned Sword.

History Of Turtle Tower

The island was initially utilized for fishing. Under Le Thanh Tong, a tower was constructed in the 1400s to facilitate the king’s fishing. In the 17th and 18th centuries, during the Restored Le dynasty, the Trinh lords commissioned the construction of Ta Vong Temple on the islet. Under the Nguyen lords in the 18th century, the temple perished.

During the French occupation of Vietnam in 1886, a musician secretly working for the French received permission from the government to construct a tower in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake in honor of Le Loi, one of the most prominent figures in Vietnamese history and one of the country’s greatest heroes. Hoan Kiem Lake and the island are connected to legends regarding his life involving the sword, Thuan Thien, and the Hoan Kiem turtle.

The musician intended to bury his father in secrecy within the tower. The city’s residents learned of his intentions and took his father’s body off the structure. The three-story tower was still under construction and was formerly known as Ba h Kim Tower.

On top of the tower, the French constructed a miniature Statue of Liberty in 1890. After the fall of France in 1945, the Vietnamese government ordered the removal of the statue.

Architecture of the Turtle Tower

Turtle Tower, constructed during the French colonial period, combines French and Vietnamese architectural styles. The structure was situated on a 350-square-meter empty hill in the middle of Sword Lake. The tower’s body is designed in the French style, while the roof preserves the Vietnamese form, with four curving edges reminiscent of temples in Vietnam.

In a rectangular layout, the top floors of the three-story Turtle Tower are progressively smaller. The base level of the tower is 6.28 meters in length and 4.54 meters in width. The two length sides have six doors, while the two width sides have four doors for a total of ten. This floor is separated into three sections on the interior.

The dimensions of the second level of the Turtle Tower are 4,8 meters and 3,64 meters. This floor, like the previous, split three rooms and opened ten doors, although on a smaller scale.

The length and width of the third level of the building are 2,97 meters and 1.9 meters, respectively. Due of its size, only one circular door on the east side of the third level is open. In this section is an altar, and above this level is a 2-meter-square pavilion on each side.