Long
An Temple, considered to be one of the finest wooden structures of the
Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945), will undergo restoration over the next two
years.
The Hue Temple is being used as a museum for royal antiquities.
An
investment of 13.5 billion VND (840,000 USD), from State coffers will
be earmarked for preservation work in early 2008, said Phan Thanh Hai
of the Hue Centre for Monument Conservation, which will over-see the
project.
The temple was built in 1845 as the Bao Dinh Palace
by then-emperor Thieu Tri in the area now known as Tay Loc Ward in Hue
’s royal citadel.
Since 1885, when the royal citadel was lost to the French, the palace has been unoccupied.
In 1908, the wooden structure was moved to its present location at 3 Le Truc Street , some 3km from the previous location.
It
was turned into the Long An Temple and used as a library for the
imperial training school for mandarins of the Nguyen dynasty.
In 1925, emperor Khai Dinh signed a decree to use it for the display of imperial antiques, renaming it the Khai Dinh Museum .
The building was renamed the Hue Royal Citadel Antique Museum after the liberation of the south in 1975.-Enditem
