Co Loa Citadel and An Duong Vuong Temple

Co Loa Citadel is a citadel built near Phong Khe, about 20km to the North of today’s Hanoi, during the end of the Hồng Bàng Dynasty (about 257 BC). The site has been the source of various relics of the Dong Son culture of the Bronze Age.

According to folklore, Thục Phán (An Dương Vương) defeated the last of the Hung kings in 257 BCE and founded the kingdom of Âu Lạc, choosing the site of Co Loa as his capital. Co Loa is a very large site and is the dominant presence in the northern floodplain of the Red River Delta, which would have required a large amount of labor and resources to have built in its time.

The site consists of two outer sets of ramparts and a citadel on the inside, of rectangular shape.

The outer rampart comprises a perimeter of 8 km and is lined with guard towers. The ramparts still stand up to 12 m high and are 25 m in width at their base. Archaeologists have estimated that over two million cubic meters of material were moved in order to construct the entire fortress.

The remains of the citadel are located on the same site where archaeologists have found tens of thousands of bronze arrowheads, iron axes, and animal bones. Close to the citadel are the remains of Co Loa communal House, a temple devoted to the cult of Princess My Chau and An Duong Vuong, a King who loved his daughter with all his heart but, lacking vigilance, left Co Loa and lost both his family and his country.