Hoi An Old Town riverfront

A trading post

A trading post for foreign traders from the 15th to the 19th century

Hoi An served as an important trading post for foreign traders to Vietnam from the 15th until the 19th century. Under Cham rule it had already been a stop on the maritime Silk Road.

1360ancient monuments and heritage sites, including 1068 preserved houses

Arrivals

Chinese and Japanese arrivals from the 17th century shaped the streets

By the start of the 17th century a steady flow of Chinese and Japanese residents was arriving to trade, creating diverse neighborhoods. The Chinese built five assembly halls, and the Japanese built a wooden bridge.

Left alone

The port declined in the 19th century, and the old town was left intact

In the 19th century the port stagnated as Da Nang developed its own. The town did not suffer new development, and it kept its original street plan, a townscape typical of 17th- and 18th-century towns.

Heritage

It was listed as a World Heritage Site on December 12, 1999

The town was classified as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1985 and a Special National Cultural Heritage Site in 2009. UNESCO listed it on December 12, 1999. The government set up a 280-hectare buffer zone around it.