Hoan Kiem Lake

Hoan Kiem Lake
	The Huc Bridge
Geographical location	Vietnam
Places on the shore	Hanoi
	Data
Coordinates	21 ° 1 '45 " N , 105 ° 51' 9" E Coordinates: 21 ° 1 '45 " N , 105 ° 51' 9" E
length	700 m

The Hoan Kiem Lake ( Vietnamese Hồ Hoàn Kiếm ) or Sword Lake ( Vietnamese Hồ Gươm ) is Hanoi's most famous lake and separates Old Hanoi from the former French colonial quarter .

The lake is about 700 m long and was created as a backwater of the Red River . In the 18th century the lake was many times larger than it is today, had direct access to the Red River, was used for naval parades and was connected to the other lakes in the city by canals. In the 18th century the Trinh princes owned 52 palaces on its banks. The lake was in 19./20. Century partially filled in.

etymology

The turtle tower

The name of the lake ( "lake of the returned sword" ) goes back to a varied legend .

At the beginning of the 15th century, during the Chinese occupation, legend has it that a huge golden turtle ( Kim Quy ) who lived in the lake gave the poor fisherman Le Loi ( Lê Lợi in Vietnamese ) a magic sword, which made him invincible. He used the magic sword to defeat the troops of the Ming dynasty in a fierce battle (1418–1428) , and in 1428 he became king. After the victory parade, the young king went to the lake to thank the gods. Then the golden turtle reappeared and demanded the sword back. Before Le Loi could decide, the sword suddenly loosened from its scabbard, rose to the sky and transformed into a great jade-colored dragon that hovered over the lake and then fell into the depths.

Le Loi named the animal the protective spirit of the lake. Out of gratitude and in memory of this event, Le Loi had the three-story turtle tower ( Tháp Rùa in Vietnamese ) built on a small island in the middle of the lake , which is still Hanoi's landmark today.

Turtles

In 1968 a 2.10 m long and 250 kg heavy turtle was recovered from the lake, which is said to have been around 400 years old. It is exhibited in a glass case in the Jadeberg Temple. The Jade Mountain Temple is located on a small island to which the The Huc Bridge leads. In the lake also lived to January 2016 single copy of the soft-shelled turtles -Art Rafetus Leloii , possibly closely related or identical to the Yangtze giant softshell turtle Rafetus swinhoei .

The Turtle Pagoda
Overview
The Huc Bridge (Sun Bridge)

Panoramic view

and display information about the image

Panoramic view of the lake at night.

Individual evidence

↑ Farkas, B and Webb, RG 2003. Rafetus leloii Hà Dinh Dúc, 2000 — an invalid species of softshell turtle from Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam (Reptilia, Testudines, Trionychidae). Zool. Treatise ( Dresden ), 53: 107-112.
↑ The legend of the Hoan Kiem Turtle. Reported to asianturtlenetwork.org on May 28, 2006.
^ Helen Clark, Brian Webb: Hanoi's Reclusive Lake Turtle Forced Out of Its Shell. Time from April 5, 2011.
↑ Hoan Kiem Lake Turtle: from myth to reality. ( Memento of December 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Vietnamnet.vn, April 5, 2005 (archive version).

Web links

Commons : Hoan Kiem Lake - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

[1] Farkas, B and Webb, RG 2003. Rafetus leloii Hà Dinh Dúc, 2000 — an invalid species of softshell turtle from Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam (Reptilia, Testudines, Trionychidae). Zool. Treatise ( Dresden ), 53: 107-112.

[2] The legend of the Hoan Kiem Turtle. Reported to asianturtlenetwork.org on May 28, 2006.

[3] Helen Clark, Brian Webb: Hanoi's Reclusive Lake Turtle Forced Out of Its Shell. Time from April 5, 2011.

[4] Hoan Kiem Lake Turtle: from myth to reality. ( Memento of December 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Vietnamnet.vn, April 5, 2005 (archive version).