Over the past time, Da Nang has effectively paid a special heed to restoring and embellishing citywide cultural and historical relics. Do these relics not only meet the public demand for traditional education, but they also create ‘a unique drawing-card’ for tourists arriving in this beautiful city.

After being restored and embellished, the Dien Hai Citadel is expected to be a highlight in the urban landscape of the city centre. Photo: XUAN SON

Imprints of cultural relics

As a precious gift of nature endowed to Da Nang, the Marble Mountains Tourist Area in Ngu Hanh Son District’s Hoa Hai Ward, is one of best places to visit in the city.

A lot of the legends and folklore about the mountains have been spread through by word of mouth. One local tale is that the mountains originate from egg shells. Legend has it that a golden turtle came to the seashore and laid 5 eggs a long time ago. When the eggs hatched, their shells turned into 5 mountains.

Each mountain is made of different coloured marble - there is pink marble in Water Mountain, white marble in Wood Mountain, red marble in Fire Mountain, water-coloured marble in Metal Mountain, and brown marble in Earth Mountain.

Showing off its special historical and cultural values, the Marble Mountains Tourist Area was recognised as a special national-level relic site by Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hien, Head of the Management Board of the Marble Mountains Tourist Area, said that, before the COVID-19 outbreak, this scenic spot welcomed an average of about 2 million visitors each year.

On April 16, 2020, the Prime Minister gave the green light to a project for preserving and restoring this highly popular tourist attraction. For the time being, functional bodies are making plans to develop the Marble Mountains Scenic Landscape Complex with a planned area of 105ha.

Elevating the statures of historical sites

The history of Da Nang land is deeply associated with relics throughout the country’s resistance wars such as the special national relic site of Dien Hai Citadel, and the national-level sites of Hoa Vang martyrs’ cemetery, the oldest of its kind in Viet Nam, and K20 revolutionary base, and the municipal-level relic site of the B1 Hong Phuoc revolutionary base.

These are historical relics that the municipal authorities have focused on preservation and restoration missions in recent years.

This year is witnessing the development of the second stage of a project for restoring and embellishing the Dien Hai citadel and its southern surrounding areas, the upgrade of the 42 Bach Dang facility into new Museum of Da Nang.

In line with the Prime Minister-approved adjustments to the strategic master plan for major developments in Da Nang to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the Dien Hai Citadel will take the key position in the future Central Square project.

Likewise, the expansion of the Hoa Vang and Phuoc Ninh martyrs’ cemeteries will be carried out over the 2020 – 2025 period.

Specifically, the Hoa Vang cemetery will be expanded to the current Traditional Medicine Hospital, with the creation of landscapes, a park, and memorial areas. Meanwhile, the Phuoc Ninh cemetery, located in front of the intersection of Nguyen Van Linh and Hoang Dieu streets will see the setting up of a park in combination with protecting and promoting the value of this relic site.

People's Artist Huynh Hung, former director of the city's Department of Culture and Sports acknowledged that cultural and historical heritage is seen as an important tourism product. If heritage conservation is not promoted, not for the benefit of the community, the conservation will not be sustainable. On the contrary, if relic sites are arbitrarily exploited for tourism, they will lose their heritage values. Therefore, it is a must-do to boost tourism development in harmony with heritage conservation for the sustainable growth of the non-smoke industry.

Reporting by NGOC HA – Translating by A.T