The Tran Temples, Nam Dinh

The Tran ruled Vietnam from the thirteenth century and came from this stretch of the Red River delta, where their old estate at Tuc Mac is now a walled compound holding three temples: Thien Truong for the emperors, with Co Trach and Trung Hoa for other branches of the family. The buildings are later reconstructions, low and tiled, set around courtyards with stone dogs, incense burners and old trees. A short walk away, Pho Minh Pagoda keeps a squat brick and stone tower from the early fourteenth century, one of the older standing structures in the delta, its lowest tier carved with lotus petals. Outside festival weeks the site is quiet, visited mostly by local families.

What you actually see

• Thien Truong temple - the central hall of the three, with ancestral altars and lacquered boards.
• Pho Minh tower - a fourteenth-century brick tower on a stone base, beside the neighbouring pagoda.
• The courtyards - stone guardians, incense burners and old trees linking the three temples.
• The Khai An rite - the seal ceremony on the fourteenth night of the first lunar month, when crowds fill the grounds.

When to go

Any dry month works, with October to April the most comfortable. The exception is the seal ceremony after Tet, when tens of thousands arrive overnight and the compound becomes impassable, so go then only if the crowd itself is the point. Mornings are quiet and the light is better on the pagoda tower. An hour or two is plenty.

Honest expectations

Most of what stands is twentieth-century rebuilding on an old site, so the interest is historical rather than architectural. Explanation in English is close to nonexistent. Nam Dinh itself is an industrial provincial city with little for visitors, and the detour only makes sense if you are already crossing the delta or heading towards Ninh Binh.

Nearby

Ninh Binh and the Trang An hills are about an hour southwest.