History Museum Hanoi

The History Museum (BaoTang Lich Su), once the museum of the Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient, is one block east of the Municipal Theatre at 1 Pho Pharn Ngu Lao (Central Hanoi map). This elegant, ochrecoloured structure was the brainchild of French architect Ernest Hebrard and was built between 1925 and 1932. Hebrard was among the first in Vietnam to incorporate a blend of Chinese and French design elements in his creations, and this particular building remains one of Hanoi’s most stunning architectural showpieces.

Exhibits include artefacts from Vietnam’s turbulent past including: prehistory (Palacolithic and Neolithic periods); proto Vietnamese civilizations (1st and 2nd millennia BC); the Dong Son culture (3rd cent lily BC to 3rd century AD); the Oc-Eo (Funan) culture of the Mekong Delta (1st to 6th century AD); the Kingdom of Champa (2nd to 15th century); the Khmer kingdoms; various Vietnamese dynasties and their resistance to Chinese attempts at domination; the struggle against the French; and the history of the Communist Party. The museum is open Friday to Wednesday from 8.15 to 11.45 am and 1.30 to 5 pm; entry is 10.000d (US$0.80).