The old houses in Đường Lâm commune

A house in Mông Phụ village
Soon we will celebrate the Independence Day
(2nd September), so a flag is hung up at window of this house.

Đường Lâm (53km away from Hanoi's center) is the first ancient village in Vietnam, which was recognized as a national heritage site in May 2006. There are over 300 old houses in the 9 villages of Đường Lâm commune and they were built 300 - 400 years ago. The old houses are of wooden type, while other houses in Đường Lâm have the walls of lateritic bricks (gạch đá ong) made of the hill soils. Other than the old houses, some must-sees in this area are the temples, pagodas and mausoleums of the two Kings of Vietnam (Ngô Quyền and Phùng Hưng).

The photos in this blog were taken in Mông Phụ village of Đường Lâm commune last Saturday 29 August 2009. In this village, there are about 50 old houses that are still preserved. A friend and I hired a car and driver to this village and we spent some hours visiting four houses with the oldest and most beautiful architecture.