The Thien Dinh palace
Mosaic on every wall.
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The most unusual of Hue's royal tombs, on a mountainside about 10 km south of the city, built for Khai Dinh, the twelfth Nguyen emperor, who reigned from 1916 to 1925. Work began in 1920 and took eleven years, finishing under his son Bao Dai in 1931, and its grey concrete facade, darkened by the weather, mixes Vietnamese forms with European Baroque and Gothic touches, a legacy of the emperor's visit to France. A long, steep stairway flanked by dragon balustrades climbs through courtyards lined with stone mandarins, elephants and horses to a stele pavilion and, at the top, the Thien Dinh palace. Inside, every wall and ceiling is covered in mosaics of broken porcelain and coloured glass, forming landscapes, fruit and flowers in shimmering detail. The tomb is smaller than those of Minh Mang and Tu Duc and takes about an hour. The stairs are steep, so bring water in summer.
Mosaic on every wall.
Vietnamese with European touches.
Stone mandarins and elephants.
Chau Chu mountain, about 10 km south of Hue
Its blend of Vietnamese and European architecture, and the porcelain and glass mosaics that cover its inner palace entirely.