With the investment of the French in the 20th century, Hanoi possessed many of the oldest museums in Asia and is also home to some of the most interesting museums in Asia.
Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is the largest and most important city of art for those who want to deeply discover the culture of our country. With the investment of the French in the 20th century, Hanoi possessed many of the oldest museums in Asia. Most of them still work currently. After the war, the Vietnamese government has built many new museums at the international level that attract a lot of foreign visitors. Hanoi is really where there are the most interesting museums in Asia.
In this brief guide, Asiatica Travel will introduce you to the 5 most famous museums in Hanoi.
1. The National History Museum
If you take a tour from the Hanoi Opera House to the Long Bien bridge, you see a large brown villa in a very refined colonial architecture. That villa is the National Museum of History, the oldest museum in Indochina and also the museum has the most precious ancient objects in Vietnam. It was built on 3 September 1938 on the basis of the Louis Finot Museum built in the year 1926 by the French and was a part of the French Far East School. The museum was designed by C.Batteur and E.Hebrard in 1925 and can be considered one of the most beautiful villas in the French Colonial architectural style.
Although many of Vietnam’s ancient treasures are brought to France after the French retreat to Indochina, you can still see ancient objects in various themes.
Address: Number 1 via Trang Tien, Hanoi, Vietnam
2. Hanoi Fine Art Museum
It is also one of the oldest museums in Vietnam that were built in the colonial period. This villa (museum) was built by the French in the 30s of the XX century. In 1962, the authority redecorated the museum with some details of a Vietnamese pagoda. Located near 400m from the Temple of Literature, the museum is a favorite place of foreign visitors. In this museum, you can see the most famous paintings and also many precious statues of Vietnam. Unfortunately, many paintings were lost during the war and half of the paintings are transcriptions.
Address: Number 66 via Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi, Vietnam
3. Ho Chi Minh Museum
If you worship our communist leader Ho Chi Minh, don’t forget this beautiful museum. It is located near the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh and the Unique Column Pagoda. The museum was built in 1990 in the Soviet-style in white color. This museum shows the known objects from the life of President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese communist leaders.
Address: Alley 19 number 158/193 Ngoc Ha, via Doi Can, Hanoi, Vietnam
4. Vietnamese Women’s Museum
A Vietnamese woman is a great inspiration for art and a very well-known museum in Hanoi. The Vietnamese Women’s Museum is perhaps the only museum dedicated to women in Asia. Indeed, it is evidence of feminism in Vietnam, the country where women play an important role in life. In this museum, you can visit the beautiful traditional clothes of women in 54 ethnics, the galleries of the daily life of a Vietnamese woman.
In 2015, the museum was named in the list of the 25 most interesting museums in Asia by Tripadvisor.
Address: number 36 via Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi, Vietnam
5. Museum of Vietnamese Ethnology
The Museum of Vietnamese Ethnology is the most famous museum in Hanoi and a mandatory place for every trip to Vietnam. It is an exhibition of the culture of the 54 ethnic peoples of Vietnam. Furthermore, this is also the place to study the Vietnamese culture and culture of SouthEast Asia in a shorter and more scientific way. The museum is divided into 3 parts: the internal pavilion with multimedia exhibits, the culture of the 54 ethnic peoples, the outdoor pavilion with 10 houses typical of ethnic peoples and the South East Asia history pavilion.
The Museum of Vietnamese Ethnology is the most massive collection of Vietnamese culture and that works most efficiently in Vietnam.
Address: via Nguyen Van Huyen, Hanoi, Vietnam
