More than 1500 years ago, the territory of the present Vietnamese province of Quang Nam was occupied by the Kingdom of Champa. After the Vietnamese had conquered these lands, the great civilization gradually disappeared from the face of Earth. It seemed that everyone forgot about the past of the Cham people till the 19th century when French colonists discovered ruins of the religious center My Son in its place.

The complex of Hindu temples, which was made out of incredibly strong red bricks with sophisticated hand-made carving, was built in the 4th-14th centuries. Its original Cham name is still not clear. However, it is known that the name My Son (in translation – «Beautiful Mountain») was given to the ruins by the Vietnamese, who were impressed by its majesty and monumentality.

My Son really stands on a flat hill, thanks to which it makes a greater impression than the monotonous scenery around it. The background for the ancient buildings is mountains and hills located nearby.

Long ago, My Son comprised around 80 various constructions, though only a bit more than 20 – in the form of half destructed ruins – have been preserved till now. Just imagine how amazing this place looked in its heyday! Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the old buildings. However, the biggest damage was made by the Vietnamese war, which almost leveled My Son to the ground.

Locals decided to restore the ancient buildings and actively started to do it after 1975 when peace finally came to their country. The Vietnamese were guided by the research conducted by a French architect, art historian and archeologist Henri Parmentier at the very beginning of the 20th century. He described the buildings of My Son and divided them into several groups. That helped to better understand the culture of ancient people and the style of buildings. It turned out that most of the local constructions were shrines of various deities and public buildings.

Previously, My Son was a cultural and religious center of the Champa Kingdom. Today, it became one of the most ancient and important attractions of Vietnam.

It is more convenient to get to the ruins from Hanoi or Da Nang as a part of a tour group.