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By Root 1453 0

focus, until 1945 when the Viet Minh proclaimed the August Revolution from its balcony. After Independence, audiences were treated to a diet of Socialist Realism and revolutionary theatre, but now the building has been restored to its former glory after a massive face-lift. Crystal chandeliers, Parisian mirrors and sweeping staircases of polished marble have all been beautifully preserved, although, unfortunately, there’s no access to the public unless you go to a performance (See "Drinking, nightlife and entertainment" for box office details). Otherwise, feast your eyes on the exterior – particularly stunning under evening floodlights or, better still, the soft glow of a full moon.

Hanoi and around | The City | The French Quarter |

The History Museum

One block east of the Opera House is Hanoi’s excellent History Museum, on Trang Tien (Tues–Sun 8–11.30am & 1.30–4.30pm; 15,000đ). Buried among trees and facing the river, the museum isn’t immediately obvious, but its architecture is unmissable – a fanciful blend of Vietnamese palace and French villa which came to be called “Neo-Vietnamese” style. The museum was founded in the 1930s by the Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient, but after 1954 changed focus to reflect Vietnam’s evolution from Paleolithic times to Independence. Exhibits, including many plaster reproductions, are arranged in chronological order on two floors: everything downstairs is pre-1400, while the second floor takes the story up to August 1945.

Hanoi and around | The City | The French Quarter | The History Museum |

The ground floor

On the ground floor, the museum’s prize exhibits are those from the Dong Son culture, a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flourished in the Red River Delta from 1200 to 200 BC. The display includes a rich variety of implements, from arrowheads to cooking utensils, and a lamp in the form of a graceful figurine, but the finest examples of Dong Son creativity are several huge, ceremonial bronze drums, used to bury the dead, invoke the monsoon or celebrate fertility rites. The remarkably well-preserved Ngoc Lu Drum is the highlight, where advanced casting techniques are evident in the delicate figures of deer, birds and boats ornamenting the surface – you can see the detail more clearly in the rubbing in the display case behind. Other notable exhibits on this floor include recent finds from excavations in Hanoi’s citadel, a willowy Amitabha Buddha of the eleventh century, pale-green celadon ware from the same era and a group of wooden stakes from the glorious thirteenth-century battle of the Bach Dang River (See "The battles of Bach Dang River").

Hanoi and around | The City | The French Quarter | The History Museum |

The second floor

Displays on the museum’s second floor illustrate the great leap in artistic skill that took place in the fifteenth century following a period of Chinese rule. Pride of place goes to a three-metre-tall stele inscribed with the life story of Le Loi, who spearheaded the resistance against the Chinese and founded the dynasty. More interesting are the extensive collection of ceramics and exhibits relating to the nineteenth-century Nguyen Dynasty and the period of French rule. A series of ink-washes depicting Hué’s imperial court in the 1890s are particularly eye-catching, as are the embroidered silks and inlaid ivory furniture once used by the emperors cloistered in the citadel.

Hanoi and around | The City | The French Quarter |

The Museum of Vietnamese Revolution

The Museum of Vietnamese Revolution, 216 Tran Quang Khai (Tues–Sun 8–11.45am & 1.30–4.15pm; 10,000đ), is housed in a classic colonial building that started life as a customs house. The museum catalogues the “Vietnamese people’s patriotic and revolutionary struggle”, from the first anti-French movements of the late nineteenth century to post-1975 reconstruction. Much of the tale is told through documents, including the first clandestine newspapers and revolutionary tracts penned by Ho Chi Minh, and illustrated with portraits of Vietnam’s most famous revolutionaries.