Dien Khanh Citadel was built by Lord Nguyen in 1793 to defend, guard and protect the South Central region at that time. This is a military architectural complex in the Vauban style, popular in Western Europe.

Initially, the citadel had 6 entrances and exits: left gate, right gate, east gate, west gate, front gate and back gate. But in 1823, the left and right gates were demolished, so now there are only 4 gates: East, West, Front and Back.

Dien Khanh Citadel was recognized as a national historical relic in 1988. After more than 230 years, Dien Khanh Citadel contains many values ​​in terms of art, architecture, history and military, and is extremely important to every child of Khanh Hoa.

Dien Khanh ancient citadel covers an area of ​​about 36,000 m2, including 6 sections of the wall running in a hexagonal shape, about 2,694 m long and about 3.5 m high. The gates of the citadel are built in the same style with burnt bricks plastered with lime mortar, forming a block about 15 m long.

Above the city gate, a watchtower was built to help the guards look out into the distance. Meanwhile, on both sides of the gates, stairs were built to go up to the top of the city gate.

The roof of the watchtower is covered with yin-yang tiles, the four ends of the roof are curved like the bow of a boat.

A poetic corner seen from the watchtower at the West Gate of Dien Khanh Citadel. Dien Khanh Citadel has attracted domestic and international tourists to visit and take photos for many years because of its unique architecture.

With its high citadel and deep moat architecture, with dense vegetation on the walls and outside the moat, Dien Khanh Citadel became an important military stronghold in the defense system of Khanh Hoa province in the past.

Entering Dien Khanh Citadel, visitors not only admire the unique architecture but also immerse themselves in the historical space through each brick and each architectural line.

However, Dien Khanh Citadel is currently degraded and has many damaged areas. In order to preserve and promote the historical and cultural values ​​of the Dien Khanh Citadel National Monument, Khanh Hoa Province has decided to invest nearly 167 billion VND to renovate, embellish and build 12 new items.

Among them, many items have been restored and preserved in their original form, including: 2,500 m long earthen rampart, the citadel top is more than 4 m wide, the brick-paved path is 2.6 m wide... The newly built works are: 2,000 m long, 6 m wide road running close to the foot of the citadel, arched bridge across the moat, small parks, bridge renovation at the citadel gates, waterproofing...

According to Nhat Nguyen (Tien Phong)