Kết quả khai quật khu vực nền Chính điện Kính Thiên năm 2025

Tóm tắt

In 2025, the Thăng Long - Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre, in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology, conducted an archaeological excavation at the former Artillery House(CT04) foundation, located in the Central Sector of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel. The excavation covered an area of 580 m² and yielded a series of significant results. A cultural deposit measuring up to 6 metres in thickness - the thickest ever recorded in the history of excavations at the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel - was identified. This deposit comprises superimposed cultural layers representing multiple historical periods, including the pre-Lý period (7th -10th centuries), the Lý dynasty (11th -12th centuries), the Trần dynasty (13th -14th centuries), the Early Lê and Lê Trung hưng periods (15th -18th centuries), the Nguyễn dynasty (19th century - 1945), and the modern period. Numerous architectural remains belonging to these periods were uncovered within the cultural layers. Exposed architectural features include Nguyễn-dynasty column foundations and an underground drainage system, which together enable the identification of Long Thiên Palace as having been constructed according to the distinctive Nguyễn - dynasty architectural style known as “Trùng thiềm điệp ốc” (multi-tiered roofs with successive structures). Based on excavation results from 2011, 2023, 2024, and 2025, the overall ground plan of Kính Thiên Palace during the Lê Trung hưng period has largely been clarified. To date, 45 out of the 60 column rows of this structure have been exposed, including foundation systems reused from the Early Lê period. At the western test pit, Trần - dynasty cultural layers were revealed, featuring two courses of brick alignments running along the north-south and east-west axes, together with architectural foundation layers dating to the Lý dynasty and the pre-Lý period. The continuous presence of cultural and architectural foundation layers spanning from the Nguyễn dynasty through the Lê Trung hưng, Early Lê, Trần, Lý and Đại La periods demonstrates the exceptional importance of the Kính Thiên Palace foundation area. These findings further corroborate historical records stating that the Lê-dynasty Kính Thiên Palace was constructed as a continuation of earlier royal structures, including Thiên An Palace of the Lý and Trần periods and Càn Nguyên Palace of the Lý dynasty. In particular, the newly documented evidence of Lê-dynasty architectural foundations represents one of the most critical and reliable contributions to the current priority task of researching and reconstructing Kính Thiên Palace.