A bunker built adjacent to the Huu Gate watchtower hinders restoration efforts.

The Management Board of Investment and Construction Projects for Zone 1 is working with Hue City’s Military Command to review procedures and clear the way for the removal of 26 bunkers, two shelters, two watchtowers, an anti-aircraft emplacement within the Hue Citadel, and 9 combat structures at the Hai Thanh fortress, and the Van Mieu - Vo Mieu complex.

The photo shows a bunker located at the southwest corner of Hue's Imperial Citadel. Next to the bunker is Quan Tuong Dai (Observatory), where Nguyen Dynasty officials at Kham Thien Giam observed the weather.

The reinforced concrete bunkers contrast sharply with the laterite brick architecture of the Imperial Citadel.

The bunker system is located on the Imperial Citadel near the Huu Gate, also known as the Southwest Gate.

Built by the US military between 1957 and 1975, the bunkers on the Imperial Citadel and within the Hue Citadel are no longer effective for national defense and detract from the Nguyen Dynasty historical site.

Some former bunkers were used as homes or restrooms by people living on the Citadel. After these residents were relocated, many bunkers became drug dens.

A military bunker sits on the Tay Thanh Thuy Quan (West Citadel Water Gate) ruins in Phu Xuan ward. During the Nguyen Dynasty, the Tay Thanh Thuy Quan and Dong Thanh Thuy Quan (East Citadel Water Gate) were two waterways into Hue Citadel via the Ngu Ha river.

For years, the bunker at Tay Thanh Thuy Quan has negatively affected the scenery of Hue's Imperial Citadel.

Overgrown weeds obscure a bunker on the west side of Hue's Imperial Citadel. Hue Military Command and Military Region 4 Command surveyed and assessed the bunkers built by the US military during the war, concluding they are no longer suitable for regional defense.

A bunker at Dong Thanh Thuy Quan remains after the eastern side of Hue's Imperial Citadel was restored. Its presence narrows the pedestrian walkway on the eastern section of the Citadel.

Vegetation obscures military bunkers in some uncleared areas on the east and west sides of Hue's Imperial Citadel.

The Hue Monuments Conservation Center is restoring sections of Hue's Imperial Citadel on the east and west sides. After the bunkers are removed, the Center plans to restore these areas.

To preserve and enhance the Hue Citadel and restore it to its original state under the Nguyen Dynasty, Hue City previously relocated residents and cleared later constructions. The plan involved relocating 4,915 households (2,233 primary and 2,682 secondary) from the Citadel at a total cost of nearly 1,890 billion VND.

Vo Thanh