Ngoc Son Temple
Red wooden bridge leading to a lake-island shrine honoring a legendary sword-bearing turtle.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Ngoc Son Temple opens with the 2016 death of Cu Rua, the giant softshell turtle many Hanoians linked to the legend of a golden turtle god reclaiming a magic sword from King Le Loi after his fifteenth-century victory over Ming invaders. Crossing the red Huc Bridge onto the temple's small island, you'll pass the Pen Tower and the stone Ink Slab that scholar Nguyen Van Sieu added when he reshaped the site in the 1860s. Inside, shrines also honor a Mongol-era general and a god of letters.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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