Delivering a Palace fit for a new emperor
Ancient oriental philosophy helped determine the chosen site for the proposed citadel. It also decreed the city had to respect the conditions of the site.
The chosen site sat between mountains and two rivers (Perfume and Sia). The mountains provided protection from malevolent spirits and the rivers from physical attacks.
Even the buildings within the citadel had to cosmologically align with;
- the Five Cardinal Points (center, north, west, south, east),
- the five elements (fire, wood, earth, metal, water) and,
- the Five Colors (yellow, white, blue, black, red).
Construction started in 1802 and completed in 1832. The citadel is 502 ha in size and the Imperial Palace alone made up 12 ha of that!
The geographical location was carefully chosen to ensure effective defenses.
It was the best location to deter their biggest threat at the time, China. It meant that the citadel was out of reach to almost all physical attacks.
The capital at the time, Hanoi was within an easy reach two-day reach. It left the capital venerable and within reach of well stocked enemy forces. They would get there in one day, execute an attack and spend another getting back to base.
Not so great for Vietnam.
Hue however, was far enough out of reach that the enemy had to travel two or more days to get there. Even if they got that far, they wouldn’t have enough provisions to attack a well-protected citadel. Let alone and make it back.
Score for the Emperor and his team of geomancers!