page_title: Old Quarter, Hanoi
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Old Quarter, Hanoi / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Phố Hàng Mắm
context_page_description: The Old Quarter is the name commonly given to the historical civic urban core of Hanoi, located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. This quarter used to be the residential, manufacturing and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce.
  Another common name referring to approximately the same area is the 36 streets, after the 36 streets or guilds that used to make up the urban area of the city.
context_section_description: 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. It was then surrounded by a defensive wall with several gates.
  During the Lê dynasty, the area included several lakes and wetlands, the largest of which was Thái Cực lake. These lakes, as well as the Tô Lịch River were connected with Hoàn Kiếm lake and the Red River. Near the end of the 19th century these lakes and rivers became isolated from each other.
  During the Lý and Trần dynasties, many people from the surrounding plains migrated to the city and settled in what is now the Old Quarter, creating the densest urban area of the city. The Lê dynasty period saw an additional influx of Chinese immigrants who arrived to trade, creating several Chinese neighbourhoods..
  When the French ruled over Vietnam, they partially rebuilt the area. This period saw many French and Indians settling there to conduct business. Two small markets were demolished to make place for Đồng Xuân Market. Furthermore a tramway was constructed through the quarter.
  The area is still the commercial heart of Hanoi.
caption: Hàng Mắm street around 1905
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A1100 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "393/1000", "Image YResolution": "393/1000", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:10:10 09:39:58", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "276", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1198", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6930", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "27/10", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:03:20 09:25:43", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:03:20 09:25:43", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "319/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "23/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "23/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "31/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1342", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "800", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3264", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2448", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1048", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1088000/81", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1224000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}