Thap Doi Twin Towers

About this place

Thap Doi, the «Twin Towers», are a pair of Cham brick temple towers in the city of Quy Nhon on Vietnam's south-central coast, about 2 km from the city centre in a straight line. Quy Nhon was part of Binh Dinh province until 2025 and now lies in Gia Lai province. The towers are also known as Hung Thanh. They were built in the late 12th or early 13th century, in the time of the Champa kingdom that ruled this coast for centuries. Their shape is unusual for Cham architecture: square bodies topped with curved, pyramid-like roofs that recall Khmer temples of the Angkor era, and stone figures of Garuda once decorated their corners. Cham tower groups usually had three towers, and the third here seems never to have been finished. The towers were restored in the 1990s. The two towers stand side by side on the lawn of a small garden among frangipani and palm trees, the north tower taller and better preserved than the south. Their red-brown brick walls carry false doors and pilasters, and small plants sprout from the worn tops, both of which have lost their pinnacles. The site is close to Quy Nhon's beaches and makes an easy short stop. Morning light shows the brickwork at its sharpest.