Old Quarter, Hanoi

The Old Quarter (Vietnamese: Phố cổ Hà Nội) is the name commonly given to the historical civic urban core of Hanoi, Vietnam, located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long.

The residential and commercial area that is now the Old Quarter came to be during the Lý and Trần dynasties and was then located east of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long and along the Red River.

During the Lê dynasty, scholar Nguyễn Trãi already mentioned some of the areas each specialized in one particular trade.

Craftsmen from villages around the city used to gather in one area of their guild to sell their wares to merchants.

The Old Quarter has been shown by researchers using the quantitative social anthropology approach to have exhibited Hanoi's cultural evolution during the first decades of the 20th century.

Only the Quan Chưởng gate is still left Characteristic of the Old Quarter is the ancient architecture of the commercial area.

Most of the historic houses there are shophouses with slanted tile roofs, of which the side facing the street used to be used as entrance to the shop inside.

For the 1000th anniversary of Nội in 2010, the Hanoi People's Committee decided to spend 50 billion VND on the refurbishing of 75 streets inside and outside the Old Quarter, among others for applying lime to restore the yellow color of façades in the Old Quarter.