Unique hundred year old ‘Covered Bridge’ of Hanoi

With a unique design, both a bridge and a place of worship, Khum Bridge used to be a unique path acting as the entrance to the village. Although now Khum bridge does not have much transport value, it is still an important spiritual place for local people.With its unique design, both a bridge and a place of worship, Khum bridge used to be a child. The monopoly road acts as the entrance to the village. Although now the Khum bridge is not worth much in terms of transportation, it is still an important spiritual site for local people.

Located in Yen village (Thach Xa commune, Thach That, Hanoi city), Khum bridge is a hundred years old, an ancient tile bridge with unique and rare architecture. This is a bridge made in the style of Thuong Gia Ha Kieu, which means the top is the house and the bottom is the bridge. From a distance, the bridge looks like a side-down boat, so it is called the Khum Bridge. The people in the village do not know exactly how old the bridge is, even the oldest people in the village were born to see this bridge. Khum bridge spans the stream of water flowing from Huong Ngai, Canh Nau, and Bui field to Tich river. In the past, the only path to Yen village had to cross the Khum bridge and the bridge acted as the village gate. All activities of production, daily life and communication of the villagers all pass through this bridge. The bridge was repaired in year 1935, in which the lower part was completely redone. In 1948, French invaders swept over, burned bridges, villagers came to extinguish fire to cure, the remaining dark gray burns are up to now. The entire front part of the bridge. Above the gable, there are concave boxes, thread edges, flowers and leaves, zucchini, lantern pillars, very sophisticated artifacts. The bridge roof is covered with funny nose tiles. The entire wall is made of ancient laterite, the rest of the truss system and rafters are made of solid wood, under the upper house there are 3 sluice gates which are swept with laterite, hewn orange, very strong. In the low water season, the middle drain is nearly 3m wide so small boats can pass. The Thuong Gia section is over 12m long, divided into 5 compartments, 2 of which are made of quartet wood, with 2 rows of pillars, 2 rows of pillars. The middle part is higher and lower to the 2 gable heads, creating a characteristic “cambered” shape for the project. Bridge frame structure is made of trusses throughout, with a bridge connecting the two trusses, the armpit beams connecting the female column with the child column, no screws, following the traditional construction style of the Vietnamese. Khum bridge structure. And the two sides of the nave were rebuilt to serve as a worshiping committee of Quan Than Linh, Than Kim Quy, and Than Dai Eagle. The three sides are left empty to make wooden stalls, which is the resting place of the villagers. Old man Nguyen Van Toai – 70 years old, the keeper of this bridge said that, in the last few decades, when the roads were built, the Khum bridge did not have much transport value but was still an important spiritual place. of the local people. People around the area still regularly come to the bridge to burn incense to pray for good things, especially on holidays and the full moon. Both a bridge and a place of worship, Khum Bridge makes many people think of the famous Japanese Covered Bridge of Hoi An ancient town.