In June 1802, after more than a century of division and the defeat of the Tây Sơn dynasty, Nguyễn Ánh ascended the throne of a unified Vietnam and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long. With a nation now stretching from the Red River Delta to the Mekong Delta, Emperor Gia Long moved the capital from the northern Thăng Long (current Hanoi) to Huế, the ancestral seat of the Nguyễn lords. Gia Long looked to "Confucianism and Chinese models of statecraft" as the best modes of authority, and with this ideology, he ordered the construction of a palace complex based on Beijing's Forbidden City in Huế.[1] Geomancers were consulted as to the propitious location site for the new city, and construction began in 1803. Thousands of workers were ordered to build the walled citadel and ringing moat, measuring some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long. The original earthwork was later reinforced and faced with brick and stone resulting in 2 m (6 ft 7 in)-thick ramparts.[2]

The citadel was oriented to face the Hương River (Perfume River) to the southeast. This differs from Beijing's Forbidden City in which faces true south. Rather than concentric rings centered on the Emperor's palace, the imperial residence itself is offset toward the southeast side of the citadel, nearer the river. A second set of tall walls and a second moat were constructed around this Imperial City, within which many edifices were added in a series of gated courtyards, gardens, pavilions and palaces. The entire complex was the seat of power until the imposition of the French protectorate in the 1880s. Thereafter it existed mostly to carry on symbolic traditions until the Nguyễn dynasty was ousted in 1945, with the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The abdication ceremony of Emperor Bảo Đại took place at the Imperial City on 30 August 1945.[3]

At its prime, the Purple Forbidden City had many buildings and hundreds of rooms. Once vacated it suffered from neglect, termite ravages, and inclement weather including a number of cyclones. Most destructive were man-made crises as evidenced in the bullet holes still visible from the military conflicts of the 20th century.[2]

Major losses occurred in 1947 when the Việt Minh seized the Citadel in February. The French led counter-attack laid siege and the six-week ensuing battle destroyed many of the major structures. The core of the city including the Imperial Palace was burned.[4]

The Citadel came under fire again in the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive a Division-sized force of People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong soldiers launched a coordinated attack on Huế seizing most of the city. During the initial phases of the Battle of Huế, due to Huế's religious and cultural status, United States Army troops were ordered not to bomb or shell the city, for fear of destroying the historic structures; but as casualties mounted in house-to-house fighting these restrictions were progressively lifted and the fighting caused substantial damage to the Imperial City.[5] Viet Cong troops occupied some portions of the citadel while South Vietnamese troops occupied others; and allied warplanes targeted the anti-aircraft guns the communists had mounted on the citadel's outer towers.[6] Out of 160 buildings, only 10 major sites remain after the battle, such as the Thái Hòa and Cần Thanh temples, Thế Miếu, and Hiển Lâm Các.

The city was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 as part of the Complex of Huế Monuments. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved. The latest, and so far largest, restoration project is planned to conclude in 2015.[7]

^ Logan, William S. (2005-12-01). "The Cultural Role of Capital Cities: Hanoi and Hue, Vietnam". Pacific Affairs. 78 (4): 559–575. doi:10.5509/2005784559. ISSN 0030-851X. ^ a b "The Citadel". hueworldheritage.org.vn. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2017-01-18. ^ "Bảo Đại trao kiếm giả cho 'cách mạng'?". BBC News Tiếng Việt (in Vietnamese). 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2022-08-17. ^ Perlez, Jane (February 16, 2004). "Hue Journal; Vietnam Slowly Restores Imperial City With a Grim Past". The New York Times. ^ Shulimson, Jack; LtCol. Leonard Blasiol; Charles R. Smith; Capt. David A. Dawson (1997). U.S. Marines in Vietnam: 1968, the Defining Year. History and Museums Division, USMC. p. 205. ISBN 0-16-049125-8.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. ^ "AP WAS THERE: The Vietnam War's Tet Offensive | WTOP". wtop.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-31. ^ Vietnam to spend 61 million dollars to restore Hue royal citadel. Retrieved 2012-07-26.