Hanoi
has many museums such as Vietnam museum of ethnology, women museum, Vietnamese
history museum, etc. Visiting museums around Hanoi to know more not only about
the rich history of Vietnam but also the beauty of Vietnamese people and the
culture. Vietnam Eco Travel will introduce to you top museums which you should
visit in Hanoi.
1. Vietnam
Museum Of Ethnology
This is the most recent
yet probably the largest and undoubtedly the most interesting Museums in Hanoi
and Vietnam. Vietnam
Museum Of Ethnology focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic
groups in Vietnam. It is located on a 3.27-acre (13,200 m2) property in the Cầu Giấy District, about 8 km
from the city center. This fabulous collection relating to Vietnam's ethnic
minorities features well-presented tribal art, artefacts and everyday objects
gathered from across the nation, and examples of traditional village houses.
The museum is packed full of information
detailing traditional Vietnamese ways of life, from religious events to the
symbolic rituals of all the Vietnamese ethnic groups, providing a rich tapestry
of the culture melting pot existing in Vietnam. The exhibition hall features
everyday objects representing each group, a research centre, library and
auditorium. The outdoor display area exhibits a variety of Vietnamese homes as
full-scale replicas, with great attention paid to the varying architectural
styles set within the authentic and tranquil gardens. In addition, there are
also leisure pursuits on display including traditional water puppet theatre and
calligraphy. The future aim of the museum is to also showcase the many cultural
practices and civilizations across
southeast Asia.
One of the main features of the museum
is to present the artefacts in a simple manner so that visitors can enjoy them
without being overwhelmed by detail.
It opens from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM every
day except monday
2. Ho Chi Minh museum
One of the most resourceful museums in Hanoi and undoubtedly in the country, Ho Chi Minh museum is
conveniently located in the Ho Chi Minh complex. The museum displays many artifacts and
documents about the life and personality of President Ho Chi Minh. Inaugurated
on 2nd September, 1990, the Museum has five extensive floors.
The showing space is nearly 4000m2 of area with 2000
data, exhibits, and images that reflect Ho Chi Minh life and career. There are
exhibition ground, store, library, and hall for studying, visiting and culture
activating. From the opening day, the museum welcomed million of local and
foreign visitors.
The statue of Ho Chi Minh was put on the exhibition
ground where many formal rituals are taken place. More than 2000 data,
exhibits, documentations, and works of art are shown to introduce Ho Chi Minh
life and directing process to taking back the liberty for Vietnam. The right of
the biography is the combination of images which describe the country of
Vietnam, the period of fighting and taking back the freedom of Vietnamese
people with the leading of Ho Chi Minh president. The left of the biography are
the thematic about some world history points from the end of 20th century up to now, they are also the factors
influence on Vietnamese people fighting periods.
For safety reasons, visitors can not
bring bags or cameras inside the museum. From Tuesday to Thursday and also on
weekends, the opening hours of the museum are from 8 A.M to 11 A.M and 1:30 to
4:00 P.M.
3. Hoa Lo Prison
The Hoa
Lo Prison, later known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi
Hilton", was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for
political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the
Vietnam War.
Located in downtown Hanoi, the infamous Hoa Lo Prison
or the Hanoi Hilton was built by the French administration in 1896 when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. The
French called the prison Maison
Centrale - a traditional
euphemism to denote prisons in France. Most
exhibits relate to the prison’s use up to the mid-1950s, focusing on the
Vietnamese struggle for independence from France. A gruesome relic is the
ominous French guillotine, used to behead Vietnamese revolutionaries. There are
also displays focusing on the American pilots who were incarcerated at Hoa Lo
during the American War.
The
majority of the exhibits here include a horrifying array of shackles, whips, and
other instruments of torture, as well as tiny solitary confinement cells, which
date from the French-colonial period. Also on display is part of the old,
narrow more than 100 prisoners escaped in August 1945. A smaller section of the
museum is devoted to the American period and, predictably enough, contrives to
show how well US prisoners fared in contrast to the brutality shown to the
Vietnamese by the French. At the back of the museum is the guillotine. A
surprisingly small, simple yet terrifyingly.
It
opens from 7:30am to 11:30am and 1:30pm
to 4:30pm. Closed on Monday
4. Hanoi Museum
The museum
displays artifacts from Hanoi's 1000-year history and the history, culture,
heritage, and architecture of Vietnam. It showcases over 50,000 artifacts in a
total area of nearly 54,000 square meters.
The museum has 6 floors, the floor area scaled down from top
to bottom. Hanoi museum give to visitors impression by modern design and
convenience. Tourists can go to other floors by elevator or stairs that are
designed into a spiral round inside the museum.
Coming to Hanoi museum, visitors will have opportunity to
admire the antiques that are collected from around the country.
It opens from 8:00 am to 11:30 am and from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm
everyday.
5. Vietnamese Women’s
Museum
Despite being
a patriarchal society, Viet Nam still reserves a special, if not sacred, place
to honour Vietnamese women. Not only is October 20th is made Vietnam’s Women
day but there also exists a museum dedicated to women.
The
museum has three main galleries and these present three main themes: Women in Family, Women in History and Women’s
Fashion. Visitors have the opportunity to learn and understand
traditional culture, marriage customs, childbirth and family life, traditional
women’s clothing and the role of women in the defense of the nation.
Inside
the museum there is lots of narrative as women of the rice paddy fields,
service workers, street vendors, female business leaders, academics and mothers
are all well represented. Additionally there is plenty of information on
everyday life including marriage, family life, fashion and life changing
rituals. Interestingly, there are also exhibits on the part women played in
Vietnam’s wars. Displays are very well presented in a storytelling format with
signs also in English and French. Historic documentation including Taoist books
of the Dao people and wedding cards from the Kinh community will give visitors
an in-depth insight into better understanding the women of Vietnam. Photographs
and film footage documenting the life of heroic mothers during wartime are
moving exhibits that shouldn’t be missed. The
Vietnam Women’s Museum is definitely worth a few hour visit, especially for
those keen on learning about culture and gender.
It opens from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm everyday.
6. National Museum of
Vietnamese History
The National Museum of Vietnamese
History is housed in a magnificent example of Indochinese architecture, which
was, until 1910, the French consulate and residence of the governor general.
Although the museum is only 2,000m2 in total, it provides a great overview of
the history of Vietnam thanks to chronological sequence. The site has two
floors, among which Vietnam’s history is divided into 10 different sections,
from the prehistoric era to the day when President Ho Chi Minh read out the
Declaration of Independence giving birth to Vietnam.
In here preserving more than
7,000 precious objects, some aged thousand years old which represent the
cultural diversity of the country. Historic objects exhibited here are not only
Vietnamese origin but also consists other culture like China, Japan, Thailand
and especially Champ with more than 50 stone-engraved back to 7th-13th
centuries.
Significantly, the Vietnam
National Museum of History is one of the few national
museums of Vietnam that has
achieved resounding success in its exhibitions abroad, promoting the country and the people of Vietnam
through national heritage, helping the international community have better,
more complete understanding of the history and culture of Vietnam.
National Museum of Vietnamese History is a good place to learn about history
and relax. Besides, tourists can find picture books about Vietnam, antiques,
traditional handicrafts in the gallery or souvenir shop located within the
museum's precinct.
It opens from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm everyday
7.Vietnam Fine Arts
Museum
The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, a museum
in the system of Vietnam's national museums, is considered as a museum that
occupies the most important position in maintaining and promoting the treasures
of Vietnamese cultural and artistic heritage. Visitors to the Museum can
appreciate and understand the entire history of Vietnamese fine arts through
the collections and exhibitions on display. The presentation of our permanent
collections of important works of Vietnamese art offer the public unique
insights into the culture and history of the Vietnam's ethnic communities. Unfortunately, many of the art work found here are
replicate, for the original has by and large been destroyed during Viet Nam
war.
It opens from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm everyday
8. Museum of History of Vietnamese Military
This is one of
the oldest museums in Hanoi. It is particularly interesting to see and important
for those wishing to learn about Vietnam, because most of the country’s history
is about war and fighting for independence. There are both indoors and
outdoors sections with display of military-related artifacts. Its exhibition
dated back to as early as Hung Vuong Era, which is considered the start of
Vietnam as a country. The first thousand year of being colonized by Chinese is
elaborately depicted, as well as the century struggle against French
colony.
The
museum content covers the six following periods:
- The history of the Vietnamese
nation and the birth of the Vietnam People’s Army
- The Vietnamese struggle against
French colonialism
- The Vietnamese struggle against
American imperialists
- The Vietnam People’s Army on
the path to a regular modern army
- The People and the Army are
oneness, and will be invicible
- Piece of weaponry displayed in
the museum courtyard (such as airplanes, tanks, heavy artilleries,
rockets, mortars, bombs, and so forth).
Visiting
the museum, tourists can see thousands of exhibits, photographs, maps, scale
models of the past Vietnam war. Thanks to this, visitors will have a good
general knowledge of the process of the birth, growth and victories of the
Vietnamese people's armed forces for the cause of peace, independence and
freedom.
It opens from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm every day except monday and
friday.
