Turtle Tower (Tháp Rùa)

Look towards the middle of the lake. On the islet stands Tháp Rùa, the Turtle Tower, perhaps Hanoi's most famous image. This is Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, the "Lake of the Returned Sword".

1The sword that went back to the water

Legend has it that in the 15th century the Dragon King gave Lê Lợi a magic sword, Thuận Thiên, "Heaven's Will", with which he drove out the Ming occupiers. In 1428, now emperor, he was boating on the lake when a golden turtle surfaced and asked for the sword. Lê Lợi handed it back and the turtle vanished beneath the water. The lake has borne this name ever since.

2A tower with secrets

This islet once held a fishing pavilion of the Lê emperors and later a temple of the Trịnh lords. The present tower was built in 1886, under French occupation, on the initiative of Nguyễn Hữu Kim, a local notable who acted as a go-between with the French. That is why it was first called "Bá hộ Kim's Tower".

A book published in 1959 recorded the rumour that Kim secretly buried his parents under the tower and that, the next morning, the coffins were found dug up. His descendants deny it and there is no proof.

Stranger still, and this one is documented: around 1890 the French placed a replica of the Statue of Liberty on top of the tower. Locals mockingly called it "the lady in the flared skirt". A few years later it was moved to a nearby garden, and it was removed in 1945.

3What to look for

• The pointed arches, European in taste, beneath a Vietnamese roof.
• The inscription «Quy Sơn Tháp», Tower of Turtle Mountain, on the top floor.
• The islet, with its lawn and trees, which no bridge reaches.