Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang

Jean-Pierre Dalbéra · CC BY 2.0

A temple to the king who unified the country, built on the foundations of his own palace.

Dinh Bo Linh put down the revolt of the twelve warlords, took the throne in 968, named the state Dai Co Viet and chose Hoa Lu as his capital — a valley ringed by limestone ranges standing like natural walls. The temple to him today is built on the foundations of that palace, in the enclosed 'inner-work, outer-frame' plan, and the finest thing about it is right in the front courtyard: a dragon-carved stone bed cut from a single block, one of Vietnam's national treasures. The stone and wood carving here is seventeenth century and unusually fine. A few hundred metres away is the temple to King Le Dai Hanh, his successor.

Visitor information

When is the best time to visit Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang?

October to December, or the festival in the third lunar month

How much does it cost to visit Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang?

20,000d (indicative)

How long do you need at Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang?

1.5 hours

What are the opening hours of Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang?

07:00 - 17:00

Did you know

Dinh Bo Linh took the throne in 968 and made Hoa Lu the capital of the state of Dai Co Viet.
The temple is built on the foundations of the old palace of the Hoa Lu capital.
The dragon-carved stone bed in front of the temple, cut from a single block, is a national treasure.
The temple to King Le Dai Hanh stands a few hundred metres away.

Travel tips

Visit both the Dinh and Le temples; they are minutes apart and tell one continuous story.
Pair Hoa Lu with Trang An in the same outing, as the two adjoin.

Source: https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90%E1%BB%81n_th%E1%BB%9D_Vua_%C4%90inh_Ti%C3%AAn_Ho%C3%A0ng

Updated: 2026-08-16