THANH HOA – Temple of Nguyen Van Nghi was built in the early 17th century, designed as a miniature capital, surrounded by two closed citadels, the outer wall is made of earth, the inner wall is made of stone similar to the Ho Dynasty citadel.

The shrine of Phuc Khe General Nguyen Van Nghi is located on an area of ​​​​about 38,000 m2, located in the middle of a large field in Dong Thanh commune, Dong Son district.

According to historical records, the temple of Nguyen Van Nghi was built in 1617 and has been completely repaired and expanded by descendants after many times. This relic is also known as “miniature Ho citadel” in Thanh country.

Prominent in this worshiping area is the system of stone walls and a large dome-shaped temple gate, similar to the heritage gate of the Ho Citadel (in Vinh Tien commune, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa).

Experiencing more than 400 years of existence and not being restored or embellished, the monument is no longer intact, overgrown trees around the temple grounds add to the ancient, mossy look.

The temple gate has one door, combining the technique of placing stones below and building baked bricks on the roof to form a sophisticated dome. Large slabs of stone were hewn and polished by the ancient craftsmen.

Along the entrance near the temple gate, there are two rows of statues of elephants, horses, stone dogs and guards standing neatly on both sides.

Not far from the two rows of statues are carved monolithic steles weighing 5-7 tons.

On the face of the stone stele engraved with Chinese characters, it reminds of the merits as well as praising the virtue and talent of Nguyen Van Nghi during his lifetime.

Nguyen Van Nghi, born in 1515, into a famous family in the old Ngoc Boi village, now Dong Thanh commune, Dong Son district. At the age of 39, at the Giap Dan exam (1554, during the reign of King Le Trung Tong), he passed the first exam in the Che Khoa exam.

As a person of integrity and discipline, he was assigned to hold many important positions under the three dynasties of Kings Le Trung Tong, Le Anh Tong and Le The Tong, such as Principal of the Academy, East of the Library, Tham Chinh of Nghe An. , Ta Thi Lang Bo Lai, entered the market of Kinh Performing cum Dong of the scholars. Regardless of his position, he was always respected by his subjects for both virtue and talent.

Nguyen Van Nghi was also the teacher of two kings Le Anh Tong and Le The Tong when he was young. After his death, he was honored as the Minister of Public Affairs, promoted to Thai Bao, and was built a temple in his hometown by the people.

According to historical documents and remnants of the foundation, the temple – mausoleum was designed in the style of “foreign interior and exterior”, surrounded by two closed walls, the outer wall is made of earth, the inner wall is made of clay. stone.

However, through the changes of history and time, the temple has been seriously degraded.

The road leading from the outer city to the inside was originally paved with square monolithic stones, but many of them are displaced or lost.

Inside the wall is a system of superficial architectural items. According to historical records, the center of the temple area used to have 24 rows of large and small houses, but now there is only a small house of less than a hundred square meters used as a place of worship. This is the house in the middle, connecting the front hall, the middle street with the main house behind. The house is in the form of a sloping roof, roofed with handmade bricks. Due to the system of trusses, crossbars… is too old, causing the roof to sag, in danger of collapsing.

Large-scale works such as worshiping roads, ceremony grounds, electricity money, post-electricity and other ancillary parts now only have foundations left or have completely lost their traces.

Due to its unique historical and cultural value, in 1990, Nguyen Van Nghi temple was ranked as a national historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

The system of stone statues at Nguyen Van Nghi temple was exposed to the sun and rain, so many of the phoenixes were cracked, mossy or moved from their original positions.

In September 2014, Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee approved the project to restore, embellish and promote the value of the historical, cultural, architectural and artistic relics of Nguyen Van Nghi temple with a total investment of nearly 53 billion VND. For nearly 10 years, the project could not be fully implemented due to lack of funds and some problems related to archaeological excavations.

In the ripe rice season, along the road leading to Nguyen Van Nghi temple, there is a very beautiful landscape with the winding Nong Giang river surrounding it.

Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Huyen, Head of the Culture and Information Office of Dong Son district, said that the Nguyen Van Nghi temple is a work of unique historical and cultural significance in the district. Every year, this national relic site attracts a large number of tourists, especially historical researchers to visit and learn.

Currently, the People’s Committee of Dong Son district is proposing the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province and related sectors to quickly implement the project of restoration and embellishment of Nguyen Van Nghi temple to exploit the strengths of this unique historical relic cluster.

Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)