Vietnam National Museum of History

The museum is at the back of the Hanoi Opera House. It is on 1 Trang Tien Street, 216 Tran Quang Khai Street, Hanoi. == History ==

The museum building used to be the Musée Louis-Finot, a branch of the French School of the Far East during French colonial rule. It opened in 1910 and was extensively refurbished in 1920,, and again redesigned between 1925 and 1932 by the architects Ernest Hébrard and Charles Batteur. It is considered a blend of French colonial and traditional Vietnamese architecture, called "style Indochinois." After being acquired by the government of North Vietnam in 1958, it was formally opened for public viewing on 3 September 1958. ==Features==

The museum is shaped like a pagoda with a cupola, and incorporates double walls and balconies for a natural ventilation system and protection from sunshine. The exhibition area is more than with exhibits arranged chronologically. The museum showcases Vietnam's history with a very large collection of about 200,000 items, covering the Neolithic age, Bronze Age, Sa Huỳnh, Oc Eo, and Hung periods, Nguyễn dynasty, Cham period, and also northern Vietnam's Đông Sơn, a culture which existed about 1000 BC-100 AD. These exhibits are in the main building. The exhibits highlight communism and depict the rule of the French colonists as cruel. ==Exhibits==

Exhibits in the museum include Hung era and Neolithic mortuaries, Bronze Age implements such as axe heads, and Cham period artifacts. There is an intimidating sculpture of Quan Am, the Goddess of Mercy, which has 1,000 eyes and arms. Also on display are the 13 Nguyễn dynasty emperor's ornamented throne, dresses and other antiquities. These include the large Đông Sơn drums, which are symbolic of Vietnamese culture. At ground level the display consist of stone implements, pottery, and ornaments, up to 1400 AD. On the first floor the exhibits pertain to the monarchic reign from the time of the Dinh and Le eras of 900 ADs to Vietnam's last emperors; these are decorative items such as a chest of drawers inlaid with mother-of-pearl, cylindrical containers of enamel (these are funerary jars There is a stele which was found during an archaeological excavation with an inscription at a monument labeled G1, which is dedicated to God Harivamsesvara by Harivarman I (ca. 1137). The exhibits of new artifacts cover Central Vietnam, Central Highlands, South Vietnam and also an old shipwreck near Cu Lao Cham Island. ==Note==