En route to Ninh Binh - Tam Coc - Mua Caves we stopped at Hoa Lu ancient temple. An absolutely beautiful ancient temple. At the temple we get to see the 4 sacred animal spirit - dragon , phoenix, tortoise and unicorn in stone

Understand from the guide that this place used to be the city instead of Hanoi of northern Vietnam. The palace was seated on a strategic plain for defense purposes. As such, we could see the mountains located behind and the river right in front. There were a few historical temples here as well, worshipping the old kings I supposed (understood from the tour guide). If you are into historical architecture, I’m sure you would like this place. Not a really big place. I remembered we took about an hour going to the different structures located within the compound.

King Dinh Tien Hoang marked an independent and unification age of Vietnam resulting in the love, admiration of the people for him. The temple is the only places devoted to his entire family and generals. The Temple is well preserved national treasures that still retains a lot of Vietnamese traditional styles. Dinh Tien Hoang Temple has followed the strict architectural rules based on Feng Shui. A Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing people with the environment around.