Temple of Saint Nguyen

The Temple of Saint Nguyen is an ancient temple in Diem village, ancient Trang An palace (now belonging to two communes Gia Thang and Gia Tien, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh). The temple was built on the foundation of a temple called Vien Quang founded by Nguyen Minh Khong himself in 1121. When he died, the people of Dam Xa were grateful, so they restored and turned Vien Quang pagoda into a temple of Saint Nguyen. Thanh Nguyen Temple was ranked as a National Artistic Architectural Monument in February 1989.

The temple faces south, parallel to King Dinh street towards Hoa Lu ancient capital, the temple is considered as a relic belonging to Hoa Lu town. The temple was built on a piece of land 100m long, more than 40m wide, the overall architecture is quite large, built in the style of domestic and foreign work . The entrance to the temple in the East and West directions has two high flagpoles on both sides. Catching the eyes of visitors is Vong Lau with a stone lamp standing on the gable of more than one meter high, modeled after the lamp of Nguyen Minh Khong in the past, lit for meditation. Legend has it that, when the lamp spontaneously grew, Nguyen Minh Khong often sat by the lamp at night and had birds and animals around. The light of the lamp shines on the clouds in the sky, so the people around him call him Zen Master Minh Khong.

Temple architecture has 4 buildings made in the most pre-modern style, the rear with the architectural style of stacking, with large roofs, young pillars with rat-tail rafters, pairs of longitudinal beams, crossbars, armpit beams, which are attached to strong columns such as Precise dreams, distributed in a position that does not affect the load bearing of the column. The upper nave on the outside has a letter carved with four Chinese characters Thien Kieu Thanh Sinh ( Heaven gave birth to Saints ). Inside is a place to store sacrifices, there are two very rare drums with a diameter of 1.4 m. In the innermost part is the main mausoleum consisting of 5 rooms to worship Nguyen Minh Khong and his parents. Behind the main shrine is a two-storey steeple, eight roofs, also made of ironwood. The steeple hangs a bell weighing more than 1 ton, 1.60 m high. Around the temple, there are many old trees with green foliage, shading a large space. Potted ornamental flowers adorn the Temple with a gentle and pure beauty... All of which form a picture of an extremely profound and quiet village landscape.

Like the temples of Cao Son, Thien Ton and Quy Minh gods in Hoa Lu four towns, the festival of Thanh Nguyen temple takes place on the same occasion as the annual Hoa Lu ancient capital festival from the 8th to the 10th day of the third lunar month. This is an opportunity for local people to show gratitude to Nguyen Minh Khong. During the festival, many interesting and interesting folk games take place.

Opening hours: 07:00 – 16:30

Ticket price: free