Together with Phát Diệm Cathedral, Tam Cốc-Bích Động, Bái Đính Pagoda, Tràng An, and Cúc Phương, Hoa Lư is a tourist destinations in Ninh Bình Province.

In the late 10th century, Hoa Lư was the capital as well as the economic, political and cultural center of Đại Cồ Việt, an independent Vietnamese polity founded in 968 A.D. by the local warlord Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (posthumously known as Đinh Tiên Hoàng, or "First Dinh Emperor"), following years of civil war and a violent secessionist movement against China's Southern Han dynasty.

The ancient capital of Hoa Lư was located in a flat valley between small but steep limestone mountains that created virtually impenetrable barriers to human traffic.

In 972, the king of Champa sent a fleet against Hoa Lư, but it was devastated by a storm as it tried to enter the river system from the sea and was forced to return home with great loss.

In 981, two Chinese armies of the Song dynasty invaded the Đại Cồ Việt with the aim of eventually working their way south and taking the capital, but they were stopped and defeated in the northern part of the country.

Bộ Lĩnh grew up in this area in the mid-10th century during the reign of Ngô Quyền, a warlord who evicted Chinese occupiers from the country and declared himself king in 938.

The location is in the "tien thuy hau son" style incorporating the principles of "phong thủy" (Chinese: "feng shui"), with a river to the front and a mountain at the back.

The middle chamber has a statue of Emperor Lê Đại Hành sitting on his throne and wearing a Binh Thien Hat; his face is hearty.

To its left is a statue of Empress Dương Vân Nga, who was a wife, first of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, and later of Lê Đại Hành.

The statue of Empress Dương Vân Nga has a plump and charming face, ruddy skin, and many features of Viet women of that time.

Her statue displays feminine virtues and youthful qualities designed to project an image of an enthusiastic, talented, keen and beautiful woman.

A year later, the princess managed to return home to the imperial court; however, she was cast into prison as a punishment, and was eventually sent off to Nhat Tru Pagoda to be a nun.

Legend has it that Đinh Bộ Lĩnh ventured into this cave and received an oracle while he was struggling for control of the country with twelve rival warlords.

The oracle turned out to be true: in 968, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh defeated the last of the twelve warlords and unified the country under his personal rule as the first emperor of Vietnam.

A unique feature of Thiên Tôn Cave is that all of the objects of worship and architectural details, including the pillars and the altars, were sculpted in the rocks, with stylized images of dragons, the motifs of the Lý dynasty.