# Thành cổ Sơn Tây

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Content updated: 2026-06-22

Sơn Tây Ancient Citadel stands in Hà Nội as a Nguyễn-dynasty fortress built in 1822. Its laterite walls reveal a local material chosen for defensive construction.

The sixteen-hectare site follows Vauban military planning, with principal structures aligned along a south-north axis. Four original gates faced the cardinal directions around the fortress.

Tiền and Hậu remain, opening towards Quang Trung Street and Lê Lợi Street. A moat surrounds the walls, measuring three metres deep, twenty metres wide, and 1,800 metres long.

At the entrance, Ngọc Well stands near a thirty-metre watchtower carrying Vietnam’s national flag. Vọng Cung occupies the centre of the citadel.

The building once received emperors after patrols, while local mandarins performed rituals and received royal decrees there each spring. During the 1870s and 1880s, Hoàng Kế Viêm and Lưu Vĩnh Phúc led resistance from this stronghold against French forces.

The citadel fell in 1884, then gained recognition as a relic in 1924 and a national historic landmark in 1994. Its preserved structures and quiet setting connect military design with Vietnam’s history of resistance.

- City: [Hà Nội](https://mytuur.com/en/city/ha-noi/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_SnTyAncientCitadel_6787d7ddebe7a333a727062f_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tập_tin:TuongNamThanhSon.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_SnTyAncientCitadel_6787d7ddebe7a333a727062f_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tập_tin:Son-Tay-palace.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_SnTyAncientCitadel_6787d7ddebe7a333a727062f_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tập_tin:ThanhSon\(BenTrong\).jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_SnTyAncientCitadel_6787d7ddebe7a333a727062f_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tập_tin:The_North_Gate_of_Sontay_Citadiel.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_SnTyAncientCitadel_6787d7ddebe7a333a727062f_4.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tập_tin:Bên_trong_thành_cổ_Sơn_Tây.jpg)

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Hà Nội. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

## What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.