Referring to the history of development of Hanoi, we cannot forget mentioning the Old Quarter - a lovely and elegant muse of Hanoian. If Sword Lake is compared as Hanoi’s heart, so the Old Quarter definitely become the soul of this capital. The Old Quarter is a valuable architectural heritage which bearing ancient Hanoi’s breath and also the traditional culture of Hanoian. For Hanoi people, the Old Quarter is their pride, their hometown and the symbol of Hanoi, especially in foreign visitors’s minds.
1. Where does the name “The Old Quarter” come from?
Actually, The Old Quarter is a name which was commonly called to describe a long-standing urban area of Hanoi which was located on the ourskirt of Thang Long citadel. Vietnamese is used to calling old Hanoi by the name: Hanoi 36 streets. The word “street” is used to explain that it is the place where gathering many craftsmen doing a same handicraft.
One another theory is that the name “36 streets” is named after the number 36, the number which is accroding to folklore, is a lucky number. However, according to some historical sources, in December 1748, King Le Hien Tong divided Thang Long citadel into 36 areas called streets in Vinh Xuong district and Quang Duc district.
2. Special features of The Old Quarter:
About geographic location, The Old Quarter locates next the Sword Lake with the total area of 100ha. Today, The Old Quarter includes 76 streets with Hang Dau street in the North, Phung Hung street in the West, the South part includes Hang Bong street, Hang Gai street, Cau Go street and Hang Thung street and about the East, Tran Quang Khai street and Tran Nhat Duat street locate in there.
One another special feature of The Old Quarter is the ancient houses which used to build in the 18th and 19th centuries.Ancient houses with oldarchitecture which includes tubular shape, tiled roof with the facade used for shopping will appeal any visitors coming to Hanoi.
Hanoi 36 streets is a place to trade. For many decades, it has been still a crowded commercial area. In the past, The Old Quarter was established with 36 characteristic streets with many craftmens from trade village located around Thang Long citadel gathered in each area which concentrated on their professional handicrafts. This thing made The Old Quarter developed. After many years, going through many periods, The Old Quarter is still strongly growing. In The Old Quarter, each street is named after the product which is sold in there, with the word “Hang” in front.
3. Streets of The Old Quarter:
The Old Quarter has 36 streets. Nowadays, although some of these streets do not keep the traditional trade, however, they still focus on selling one kind of goods. The others remain the traditional trade such as:
- Hang Dao street is a place for trading silk and selling fabrics.
- Hang Ma street focuses on selling gold and silver paper items for worship, including paper money, or paper house, paper horse.
- Hang Luoc street is used to selling many types of comb, for instance, wood comb or horn comb and so on.
For visitors who coming to Vietnam at the first time, The Old Quarter is a strange thing that can make them feel worried when walking through many narrowed and crowded streets having a same name. Or maybe they might feel be impressed with a lot of sidewalk snack booths which are full of people. Let’s blend into the busy and full of vitality life of Hanoian, you will see the poem in life is moving constantly.
Same article:
- Get lost in the Hanoi Old Quarter.
- Bat Trang Pottery Village:Coming back to visit the best ancient traits of hanoi people.
- Hanoi Traditional Village: The white silk dress: As soft as a beatifull girl.
