Dong Dinh Museum – Da Nang’s Hidden Gem

Đà Nẵng’s name often brings to mind fascinating images of a lively young city with all the hustle and bustle you can ask out of it, yet deep in its Sơn Trà district lies a totally different, quaintly charming place widely acclaimed as ‘the garden of memory’ – and there’s a reason for that.

The Đồng Đình Museum opened its doors in 2011 to a wealth of visitors seeking to relive the good old days of 20th-century Vietnam. The first to be privately-owned in Central Vietnam, this museum boasts not only a large set of one-of-a-kind exhibits but also an exquisitely mesmerizing architectural setting, full of old-world aesthetics. What strikes the eyes the most, however, is the vast amount of greenery incorporated into virtually every corner of the museum, including the ‘đồng đình’ (or ‘đủng đỉnh’) plant after which the place was named.

All the spectacles aside though, Đồng Đình museum’s ample collection of various relics and other antiquities is the real proof of the pudding. The museum complex is made up of many buildings, each with their own set of pieces that conforms to a certain theme.

These buildings can feature anything from modern and traditional Vietnamese art to a visual study of Vietnamese ethnology, and they are designed in a way that best represents what they contain, which, in a way, serves to give a far more detailed and vivid historical context to each and every piece on display than the conventional introductory texts. In fact, such is the nostalgic atmosphere radiating from the environment it creates that the museum has managed to extend its usefulness beyond its original purpose, now occasionally chosen as a venue for major reminiscent art exhibitions and workshops.

Video by Lan Nguyen 

To fully capture the beauty of Đồng Đình Museum, our photographers at Maze Vietnam has put together a collection of photos detailing its archaic magnificence. Enjoy!

Photos by Lan Nguyen
Words by Duy Nguyen