In early June, Tan Do Thanh Hieu Co group (Neo ‘Bulletin of the Friends of Ancient Hue’ group) was overwhelmed with joy, forgetting the oppressive heat as they witnessed the completion of their cherished project.

Leaders of Hue Monuments Conservation Center (HMCC) have announced that conditions are now favourable for the reconstruction of the significant Can Chanh Palace in The Forbidden City, Hue Imperial Citadel.

“Historical photos are precious and incredibly powerful when we understand and analyze their smallest details. An enthusiastic team may have researched a certain project for decades. However, if they do not have clear evidence, a historical photo decoded to reveal the research results can completely criticize the team effort in just... one hour,” said Nguyen Tan Anh Phong.

In the process of digitalizing ancient documents about Can Chanh Palace, Nguyen Tan Anh Phong and his collaborators discovered one of the two glass paintings currently hung at the Department of History, College of Sciences, Hue University is the precious painting which used to belong to Can Chanh Palace in the Imperial City.

Inside the Hue Imperial Citadel, Can Chanh – the most important palace after Thai Hoa Palace – was built in the 3rd year of Gia Long’s reign (1804) and destroyed in 1947. This is also the palace that is assessed by Western scholars as the most beautiful and splendid construction of the imperial citadel.