Students visited and experienced in Phuoc Tich ancient village. Photo: D. Hieu

Along with becoming a national relic, the village has become a destination on the tourist map of the Ancient Capital land. In recent years, there have been quite a few investment projects to conserve and promote the value of Phuoc Tich ancient village, while cultural activities and festival events ranging from large to small scales are regularly held and attract a large number of visitors; many services are also exploited by the authority in coordination with the locals. Although not as expected, but for those who have ever set foot in this ancient village, they cannot help but admire its beautiful, peaceful and strangely poetic scenery, which is "rare" in Vietnam.

The news that the functional agencies have started preparing a dossier to propose Phuoc Tich ancient village to be recognized as a special national relic has made those who love and care about this village very happy.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Loc, Director of Thua Thien Hue Museum of History, the process of upgrading the Phuoc Tich ancient village from a national relic to a special national relic has to go through many procedures. Currently, the unit has coordinated with the Phong Dien District People's Committee to prepare a resume. This document has been submitted to the Provincial People's Committee and the province will send it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for approval in principle. Once agreed, the Ministry will send an official letter back to the locality, after which the procedures and documents will be processed in sequence.

Mr. Loc said that since being recognized as a national relic, Phuoc Tich ancient village had been exploited and preserved quite well. And when it is recognized as a special national relic, the province will build more projects to promote the cultural value of this unique ancient village, in order to preserve the unique cultural features there.

The resume clearly shows that Phuoc Tich ancient village still preserves a series of cultural values such as cultural and religious architectural institutions (including communal houses, pagodas, ancestral houses, temples, and shrines), natural landscapes, and village landscapes. In recent years, thanks to many sources of funding, Phuoc Tich ancient village has been invested in technical infrastructure systems such as lighting, underground electricity, paved roads, and tourist parking lots. Notably, 23 out of 25 ruong houses have been completely renovated and restored under the project on "The policy supports the protection and promotion of the value of characteristic Hue garden houses".

Meanwhile, Mr. Doan Quyet Thang, Director of the Management Board of Architectural and Artistic Relic of Phuoc Tich ancient village, said that the villagers were very happy and supported the news on building a dossier for upgrading the ranking of the Phuoc Tich ancient village relic. Before that, a meeting of the villagers was held and everyone agreed.

Being surprised to find out

In 2002, after attending a national seminar on Hue's urban heritage, a delegation of experts from Vietnam Association of Architects visited Phuoc Tich ancient village. The whole delegation, especially Professor. Dr.. Hoang Dao Kinh, an architect, who was then the Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Architects, was surprised by the richness of the traditional architectural system as well as the unique beauty of the village. The Vietnam Association of Architects included the village in its research program in 2003. Not long after that, a national seminar on Phuoc Tich cultural heritage village was held in Hue in March 2004, laying the foundation for submitting a dossier to rank the ancient village on the bank of the O Lau River as a national relic.

Story: Nhat Minh