As one of the interesting topics once visiting Vietnam, Vietnam history offers a lot of things to discover: from country-construction period to the wartime. Here you can consider 4 best places in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam to learn about Vietnam history.

1. Hoa Lo Prison

Hoa Lo Prison, located in Hoa Lo Street, Hoan Kiem District (which previously had been the Phu Khanh Pottery Village), was built by French colonialists in 1896 (only 4 years after the Hell on Earth starts construction in Con Dao Island). Considered as one of the most massive and solid prisons in Indochina during that period, Hoa Lo is now one of 5 the scariest tourist destinations in Southeast Asia.

Hoa Lo Prison was designed to keep 500 prisoners with many cruel forms of torture: burning, water-immersing, hitting and the most obsessing form: the big guillotine. When the Vietnamese-French war ended and Vietnam had to encounter the struggle against American invader, Hoa Lo Prison was used to keep American prisoners. However, listening to the teaching of Ho Chi Minh President, the Vietnamese soldiers didn’t apply any cruel torture on the prisoners. Instead, they were treated so fairly (provided with food, clean clothes, good stay and can freely to enjoy entertainment as they want) that later, the American pilots who were kept here called it “The Hilton Hotel”

2. Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

Belonged to the national museum system of Vietnam, the Fine Arts Museum is one of the most important museums to preserve and develop art culture of minorities in Vietnam. Visiting the museum, via the pictures, paintings carves, and statues, visitors will partly imagine how the past of Vietnam was. Especially, the statues and paintings of Vietnam famous artists on the 2nd floor are the best to see the images of Vietnamese wars against French colonialists and American Empire.

 

3. Vietnamese Women’s Museum

After 4 years closed for an upgrade, Vietnamese Women’s museum has been opened for visiting since 2010. The museum concentrates on 3 major topics: Women in Family, Women in history, Vietnamese Women Fashion. The museum will tell the visitors a lot about the role of Vietnamese women in the life, culture, especially in the history of Vietnam. In 2013, the museum was listed in the ‘Top 25 the most interesting museums in Asia’ voted by Tripadvisor.

 

4. Vietnam National Museum of History

For those who are interested in Vietnam history, the National Museum of History is absolutely an ideal destination to learn about it. Located in Tong Dan Street, the museum is celebrated as “The Living History Book” in Hanoi. The display of the museum is the object revealing the history of all periods in Vietnam: From the prehistory, first period of nation construction, feudalism to 1945 (war against French colonialists) and 1975 (war against American Empire.)