Discovering a Timeless Craft - The Thanh Ha Terracotta Park in Hoi An, Viet Nam

Hello everyone, I am excited to share with you a new travel post about my visit to the Thanh Ha Terracotta Park, located in the Pottery Village near Hoi An Ancient Town. Hoi An Ancient Town was a major Vietnamese trading port from the 15th to the 19th century, and is still so well-preserved that it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hoi An has since become an extremely popular location for tourists, who enjoy exploring the vibrant walking streets, taking a boat ride on the river, and shopping at some of the many cozy stores and street stalls. Hoi An is famous for many kinds of special foods and traditional handicrafts, but today I will focus on one of its oldest, pottery.

The Thanh Ha Pottery Village has been producing pottery by hand, using foot wheels and wood-fired kilns for over 500 years. They say the tradition began in the late 1400s, during the Le Dynasty, when potters from the northern provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nam Dinh migrated to Hoi An. Due to Hoi An’s prominence as an international trading hub, pottery from this region was regularly exported throughout Southeast Asia, as well as China, Japan, and even parts of Europe. If you visit the pottery village, you can still see many families practicing this traditional art form in the same fashion as their ancestors before them. A fun activity you can do here is to visit one of the local homes or the Terracotta Park to take a traditional pottery-making class.

The Terracotta Park is located within the Thanh Ha Potter Village, and it has many beautiful sculptures on permanent display around the grounds. To be honest, this place doesn’t really feel like a park, but rather a large art and history museum focused on the local terracotta art form. There are some really fun sculptures hidden all over, and it really is a treat to wander around and find some unique pieces.

One of the popular concepts, which is displayed prominently in the front garden, is a large collection of miniature models of famous landmarks. There was a nice mix of cool buildings from many parts of the world, including the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Colosseum, Sydney Opera House, and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Inside the main building, you will find a large collection of assorted art pieces, historical artifacts, and displays depicting scenes of traditional daily life. The build is very well designed, with lots of nice-looking exposed brick and breezy walkways that make the most of airflow, which is very important in Viet Nam, where hot weather is the norm.

The back of the building is nicely shaded with many trees and has tables set up for pottery classes. I came here as part of a company trip, and we did some team-building exercises back there, where we made our own sculptures out of clay.

Because I came with my group, I did not pay an entrance fee, but I saw a sign that said it was 50,000 VND entry ($2). A fair price for a nice museum full of cool art and interesting history.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my visit to the Thanh Ha Terracotta Park. Apologies for not sharing more photos with you all, I was admittedly distracted by work responsibilities during most of my visit. That being said, there is much more beauty left to be discovered, so if you ever find yourself in Central Viet Nam, definitely consider visiting this hidden gem.

All photos were taken by me. Have a great day!