Ngọc Sơn Temple

A temple on a lake island. Ngoc Son Temple, the Temple of the Jade Mountain, sits on a small island in Hoan Kiem Lake in the historic centre of Hanoi. Reached by an elegant red wooden bridge, it is one of the most visited and photographed cultural sites in the Vietnamese capital, set amid the willow-fringed water at the edge of the Old Quarter.

Heroes and scholars honoured. The temple, in its present form dating from the nineteenth century, is dedicated to several revered figures, most notably the thirteenth-century general Tran Hung Dao, celebrated for defeating Mongol invaders, and the scholar-saint Van Xuong, patron of literature and learning. It also honours a physician and other worthies, blending martial, literary and spiritual devotion in a single compact complex.

Legend and setting. The lake around it is bound up with a national legend in which a hero returned a magic sword to a golden turtle, giving Hoan Kiem, or the Lake of the Returned Sword, its name. Inside the temple, a preserved specimen of a giant softshell turtle recalls the large turtles once said to inhabit the lake, tying the shrine to one of the country's best-known myths.

Visiting. The temple is entered across the arched Huc Bridge from the lakeside promenade, a short walk from the shops and street food of the Old Quarter. A modest admission fee applies, and the site is busiest on weekends and evenings, when the surrounding streets become a pedestrian zone. Modest dress is appreciated. The combination of bridge, island, temple and lake, especially in the soft light of early morning or dusk, makes this a quintessential Hanoi scene. Pavilions honouring literature and a writing-brush tower stand near the entrance, adding to the temple's scholarly associations.