Tomb of Tu Duc

Tự Đức was the last emperor of the Nguyen dynasty and reined from 1847 to 1883. He is considered to be the last independent emperor of Vietnam. He continued the tradition of social closure started by his ancestors, closing Vietnam off to foreigners and modernizing influences and expelling those foreigners living in Vietnam. His persecution of the Christian population (a belief he considered perverse) caused a considerable amount of anger among the large powers of Europe and led to France’s conquest of Saigon which forced Tự Đức to eventually capitulate and sign over South Vietnam as a French colony (known then as Indochina). For many, this surrender to the French was tantamount to treason.

The tomb of Tự Đức is located in a pine grove about 8km. from Hue and is one of the best architectural works of the Nguyen dynasty. It occupies 12 acres and is divided into two clearly differentiated areas: one for temples and one for the tomb. It was designed by Tự Đức himself first as a residential summer palace and them as a mausoleum.

You enter via the Vu Kiem gate which, seeing as how it’s a tourist attraction, is naturally surrounded by a restaurant area and all kinds of vendors hawking souvenirs.

Beware of the tourist traps in Hue. Although there are many sites of interest, the package tours are awful. You are taken to one place after another where the only purpose is to push tourist trash.