Ambassadors’ Pagod – Quán Sứ Temple

Sight: Ambassadors’ Pagod – Quán Sứ Temple
Type: Historic
Location:Hanoi - Vietnam
Address: 73 Quán Sứ, Trần Hưng Đạo, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Việt Nam
Telephone: +84 4 3825 2427
Opening hours: 05am - 09pm

The official centre of Buddhism in Hanoi, the wonderfully maintained and otherwise peaceful Ambassadors’ Pagoda attracts quite a crowd on holidays. During the 17th century there was a guesthouse here for the ambassadors of Buddhist countries; today about a dozen monks and nuns are based here. Next to the pagoda is a shop selling Buddhist ritual objects.

Quan Su Temple was built in the 15th century under the Lê Dynasty. At that time there was no Buddhist temple here but some cottages used as a place of worship. According to Hoàng Lê nhất thống chí, during Emperor Le The Tong’s reign, Chiem Thanh (Champa), Ai Lao (Laos) usually sent ambassadors to offer tributes to Đại Việt (official name of Viet Nam under the Lê Dynasty). The Emperor ordered to construct a building called Quan Su (Embassy) to receive foreign ambassadors to Thăng Long. Because those ambassadors were all Buddhist, they decided to build a temple on the premises for worship. Today only the temple remains.