Following the inauguration ceremony, Long An Palace is now open topublic, featuring a display of 424 outstanding artifacts relating toroyal life during the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945).
Long An Palace was built under the time of King Thieu Tri (1841-1847).It consists of seven compartments and two annexes plus 128 pillars madeof precious timbers. The entire wooden parts are carved with beautifulscenes, the four sacred animals (dragon, lion, tortoise and phoenix) andmore than 1,000 poems in Chinese scripts.
In1847, when King Thieu Tri passed away, his body was kept here for eightyears before burial and the palace then became a worship site for theking, until the French colonialists occupied the country in 1885. In1908, Long An Palace was used as a library for the Quoc Tu Giam Schooland became Khai Dinh Museum in 1923.
Located on an area of 6,330m², Long An Palace now displays more than10,000 artifacts relating to the life during the Nguyen Dynasty whichwere previously showcased at the Hue Royal Antiquities Museum.-VNA