Thap Doi Cham Towers

The Cham kingdom dominated southern and central Vietnam until the 15th century. The capital Vijaya, was located outside modern day Quy Nhon. It was from here that the Cham raised armies against the Angkor based Khmer Kingdom in the 12th and 13th centuries. These battles are depicted in bas reliefs on Cambodia's Angkor temple walls.

In 1471, after centuries of conflict, the armies of the Viet people of the north - the modern-day Vietnamese - crushed the Cham once and for all and consolidated control over what is now known as central Vietnam.

Binh Dinh Province is home to the biggest and best-preserved Cham towers in the region, and it still has 14 of the original towers built between the 11th and 15th century. Typically, Cham towers are characterised by the use of reddish bricks and common architectural features include spear-shaped arches over windows and doorways with carved patterns and designs.

Built in the late 12th – early 13th century, these red brick towers sit humbly in a small city park, surrounded by coconut palms, banana trees and other tropical plants. The pair of towers stand side by side, one at 20 metres tall and the other around 18 metres.

Other attractions in: Quy Nhon

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Quy Nhon in brief

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