1 Day Cultural Nha Trang Tour

Pick up at your Hotel or Nha Trang Cau Da Port / Harbor. Your private English speaking guide will have a very “hard to miss” sign.

Head off to the Nha Trang Christ the King Cathedral

The Christ the King Cathedral[1] (Vietnamese: Nhà thờ chính tòa Kitô Vua; French: Cathédrale du Christ-Roi), also called Nha Trang Cathedral (Vietnamese: Nhà thờ Núi Nha Trang; French: Cathédrale de Nha Trang), is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Nha Trang in central Vietnam.

The parish was founded in 1886 by French missionaries. The present church was built in Gothic Revival style in 1928 as a parish, depending on the Apostolic Vicariate of Quihnon. It was consecrated on Easter 1930 under the title of “Christ the King”. Then she was attended by a famous French priest in the Foreign Missions of Paris, Louis Vallet (1869-1945), who is buried next and devoted his life to his parishioners.

When the apostolic vicariate was erected in 1957 and the diocese created in 1960, with Monsignor Paquet, from the Foreign Missions, as first bishop, the church was chosen as the cathedral.

The cathedral, very well located in the upper part of this coastal city, has a remarkable amount of stained glass windows depicting saints, including several French saints, as St. Joan of Arc,[3] and St. John Vianney, and also episodes from the life of Jesus.

Long Sơn Pagoda Nha Trang (Vietnamese: Chùa Long Sơn) is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nha Trang on South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is regarded as one of the main sites in the city, along with Hai Duc Temple.

History
Long Son Pagoda was previously known as Đăng Long Tự and it is located at 22 October 23 Street. It is located in the ward of Phương Sơn, and sits at the foot of Trại Thủy mountain, in city of Nha Trang, just 400 m west of the railway station.

Long Son Pagoda was erected on another hill in 1886 under the abbotship of Thích Ngộ Chí (1856–1935), who hailed from the district of Vinh Xuong in Khánh Hòa Province. Before joining the sangha, he was a participant in anti-French resistance forces that attempted to regain Vietnamese independence.

In 1900, after a large cyclone, the temple was destroyed and had to be moved from the hill to its current location. In 1936, the Buddhist Studies Association made the temple the headquarters of the Buddhist Association in Khánh Hòa Province. In 1940, the temple was renovated and expanded under the leadership of Thích Tôn Thất Quyền and a lay Buddhist by the named of Võ Đình Thụy. In 1968, the temple was heavily damaged during the Vietnam War, in particular the tiled roof. In 1971, Thích Thiện Bình organised for the capital works program to restore the temple, which was around 60% complete in accordance with the plans of the architect Võ Đình Diệp when it was interrupted by the Fall of Saigon and the communist victory over South Vietnam.[1]

Since its construction, the temple has had a stable leadership, with only three abbots in over 120 years: Thích Ngộ Chí (1886–1935), Thích Chánh Hóa (1936–1957) and Thích Chí Tín (1957–).

From the Long Son Pagoda, there is a large road leading up to Hai Duc Pagoda along the crest of the hill, where there is a large white concrete statue of Gautama Buddha. The statue was built on the site of the original temple and the statue was cast in 1964 before being installed the following year, under the auspices of Thích Đức Minh, who was the Head of the Buddhist Association of Khánh Hòa Province. The sculpture of the statue was by Kim Điền. From the ground up, the statues is 24 m, and from the base of the statue, it is 21 m. The figure of the Buddha is 14 m while the lotus blossom comprises 7 m. Around the statue are statues of seven arahants. In front of the statue are a pair of dragons, which are 7.20 m long. The statue is visible from afar as one enters the city, from either the national highway or by train.

The temple grounds also includes a garden.

The entrance and roofs are decorated with dragon mosaics which are built from glass and ceramic tiles. The main ceremonial hall is adorned with modern interpretations of classical motifs. The nasal hairs of the dragons are wrapped around the pillars on either side of the main altar.

The main statue in 152 stone steps up from the entrance of the pagoda, and is often used as a vantage point to look over the city of Nha Trang.

Time for a little food at Đặng Văn Quyên Restaurant for some traditional and great tasting Vietnamese Food.

Po Nagar CHam Tower Nha Trang’s History

A stele dated 781 indicates that the Cham King Satyavarman regained power in the area of “Ha-Ra Bridge”, and that he restored the devastated temple. From this inscription can be deduced that the area previously had come under temporary foreign dominion, and that foreign vandals had damaged the already existing temple. Other steles indicate that the temple had contained a mukhalinga decorated with jewelry and resembling an angel’s head. Foreign robbers, perhaps from Java, “men living on food more horrible than cadavers, frightful, completely black and gaunt, dreadful and evil as death” had arrived in ships, had stolen the jewelry and had broken the linga.[2]:91 Though the king had chased the robbers out to sea, the treasure had been lost forever. The steles also indicate that the king restored the linga in 784.

The Cham military leader Senapati Par, under the reign of Harivarman I, made endowments in 817. Senapati made attacks on the Khmers under Jayavarman II. Harivarman I was succeeded by his son, Vikrantavarman III, who also made endowments.

A stele dated 918 by the Cham King Indravarman III states an order to build a golden statue to the goddess Bhagavati. Later steles report that the original gold statue was stolen by the Khmer’s Rajendravarman II in 950 and that in 965, the king Jaya Indravarman I replaced the lost statue with a new stone one.[2]:124[4]:56 A stele dated 1050 says that offerings of land, slaves, jewelry, and precious metals were made to the statue by Jaya Parameshvaravarman I. Paramabhodisattva made “rich offerings” in 1084 after reuniting the country. Jaya Indravarman III gave the temple a Shivalinga and a Shrishana Vishnu in 1141 and another donation in 1143. In 1160, Jaya Harivarman I “offered rich gifts”.[4]:77 An inscription states Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire, “took the capital of Champa and carried of all the lingas.” Later steles indicate the celebration of a cult in honor of the goddess Yan Po Nagar, as well as the presence of statues dedicated to the principal deities of Hinduism and Buddhism.

In the 17th century, the Viet people occupied Champa and took over the temple tower, calling it Thiên Y Thánh Mâu Tower. A number of Vietnamese legends regarding the goddess and the tower have come into being.

Po Nagar CHam Tower Nha Trang’s Site

The towers of Po Nagar are located on a hill.
The Po Nagar complex is situated on Cù Lao Mountain. It consists of three levels, the highest of which encompasses two rows of towers. The main tower is about 25 m high.

Durga, the slayer of the buffalo-demon, is represented on the pediment above the entrance to the temple.
The temple’s central image is a 1.2m tall stone statue of the goddess Yan Po Nagar sitting cross-legged, dressed only in a skirt, with ten hands holding various symbolic items. According to Vietnamese scholar Ngô Vǎn Doanh, these attributes show that Yan Po Nagar was identified also with the Hindu goddess Mahishasuramardini or Durga, the slayer of the buffalo-demon. Another sculpture of the goddess Mahishasuramardini may be found in the pediment above the entrance to the temple: it depicts the four-armed goddess holding a hatchet, a lotus and a club, and standing on a buffalo.[8] This sculpture belongs to the Tra Kieu style of Cham art from the end of the 10th century or the beginning of the 11th century.

XQ Hand Embroidery is located in a quite beautiful location on Tran Phu Street, Nha Trang XQ Art Center has the scale of operation as a hand embroidery village with a specially closed technology process. This process has brought the traditional hand embroidery industry in Vietnam to a new turning point: hand embroidery art and high bold ethnic culture. Thus, for many years, Nha Trang XQ Arts Center has become a cultural tourism destination – an attractive tourist attractions near and far.

Visitors to the XQ Nha Trang Arts Center come from a variety of sources: Tour companies, tour guides, friends, sometimes passers-by…The peaceful and quiet space with pictures is arranged cleverly between lights and colors, harmonious combination of poetry and painting. And the embroidered paintings with the theme of homeland, flowers, landscapes or the human body of XQ embroiderers are leave the viewers deeply impressed. It is a nostalgic memory of the childhood village, of the distant memories … And from anywhere, the visitors have almost the same emotions, admiration and respect before the patience of handmade embroiderers. The embroiderers are very ordinary, but besides the embroidery technique, the talented hands, seemingly embroidered with the heart of sentimentality, silk needles hide both the spirit of life, their trust , making the embroidered pictures full of life. Don Marric, an Australian tourist, exclaimed, “This is the most unique art I have ever seen. The color of the paintings left me with a deep impression ”

The first point guests are invited to visit poetry garden or garden compose. It is a peaceful and shady garden with a poetry table and green tea or roses. This is the place to welcome the friends of the Center. This is also the place nurturing the soul of artisans, so that they have creative conditions and stick with their careers … Taking visitors to this place is to understand their soul part of the person doing Painting to feel better paintings.Leaving the poetry garden, guests are taken to the altar hall where the worshipers of the people are skilled in the embroidery development such as Nam Phuong Hoang Hau, Doan Huy Hoang Thai Hau and Le Cong Hanh.

And your tour is over – Lotus Private Tours Nha Trang will drop you off at your Hotel or at Cau Da Harbor.