A peaceful area with many canals, orchards and fields, Go Cong District in the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang Province astonishes tourists with an ancient architectural complex called the Lang Hoang Gia (Royal Mausoleums).

The mausoleum complex is located in Long Hung Commune in the district’s Go Cong Town near National Highway 50, and about 30 kilometers from the province’s My Tho Town. It is the place where

people of the Pham Dang lineage, a clan of mandarins and courtiers famous in the southern region in the 18th and 19th centuries, were buried after they died.

All of the deceased aristocrats’ mausoleums were built facing each other on both sides of a road, over an area of nearly 3,000 square meters. The complex is surrounded by a wall which is 80 centimeters thick and 90 centimeters high.

The ancient gate, decorated with immaculate detail, is covered with sheets of lush green moss. Two rows of shady pines form a path to the mausoleums creating a cool and quiet feel around the royal cemetery.

The mausoleums were built by locals and skillful carpenters from Hue in the central region, so the complex reflects a traditional Hue architectural style.

Several kinds of precious woods were used in the construction of the mausoleum, mostly brought in from the then feudal capital of Hue. And the most impressive aspect is that not a single nail was ever used to connect the wooden pillars, rafters or roof beams of the complex.

Wooden tablets with sacred oriental animals and flowers are carved intricately into the surface of much of the wood, creating a great solemnity inside the mausoleums, while imposing pillars add a majesty to the complex.

Among the 13 mausoleums built between 1811 and the early 20th century, the mausoleum of Grand Duke Pham Dang Hung – father of Queen Consort Tu Du of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) and maternal grandfather of King Tu Duc (1829-1883) – is the most impressive of all. It is located on a mound covering more than 800 square meters and according to local residents, the grand duke was buried in a sitting position inside a two-layered coffin.