The first village well in Nam Dan

Elderly people in Vung Chua village, Trung Phuc Cuong commune said that Vung well was dug by people in Vung hamlet, Trung Can village long ago to get water for daily use. When the movement of digging open wells in households developed, Vung well was forgotten. After decades of only traces remaining, the old Vung well was restored by local people together. Photo: Huy Thu

Previously, Vung well was an earthen well with high walls to prevent water from overflowing from the fields, and thick bamboo poles were placed inside the well to prevent landslides. The well had a bridge made of ironwood. Now restored, Vung well was built and assembled with many different types of stone (green stone, laterite...) with quite large sizes. Photo: Huy Thu

The diameter of the well wall is 14m, the diameter of the well bottom is more than 7m, the perimeter of the well wall is nearly 44m. The depth of the well is 5.5m. The well has 1 door in the East with many steps up and down, there is 1 flagpole to hang flags on holidays and Tet. The well floor surrounding the well wall is 2m wide. Photo: Huy Thu

The well entrance is bordered by two stone pillars over 2.5m high, with two stone dragons attached in front. On the left side of the well entrance (looking from the inside out) is a stone incense burner for people to burn incense to worship the local god, Long Quan, the lord of the vein... on the right side is a stone block engraved with the name of the well in calligraphy. Photo: Huy Thu

The pair of stone dragons in front of the well is a rather impressive sculpture. The well door has opening and closing doors, only opening when necessary, to prevent accidents. Photo: Huy Thu

The well wall is made of 33 stone slabs and dozens of stone pillars carved with delicate flowers, leaves, and lotus buds. The cost of building the well was nearly 1 billion VND, contributed by local people and children living far away from home. Photo: Huy Thu

In addition to being elaborately designed to create a "modern yet ancient" beauty, Vung well is also located next to an ancient village banyan tree that is "rarely found anywhere else". Photo: Huy Thu

According to locals, this banyan tree has been around for a long time and has luxuriant branches and leaves. During the restoration of the well, some of the banyan branches extending towards the bottom of the well were cut off to prevent leaves from falling into the well. Photo: Huy Thu

Since the village well was restored, the Vung well area has become a place for many local people to play, socialize, and cool off. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Dinh (71 years old), former Chairman of Nam Trung Commune People's Committee, currently Chairman of Trung Phuc Cuong Commune Elderly Association, said: In the past, Vung well not only provided domestic water for local people (Vung hamlet, Gat hamlet, Ha hamlet) but also provided water for the military weapons factory and military units stationed in the locality. Having been closely associated with many generations of Trung Can villagers, the restoration of Vung well aims to contribute to preserving and conserving the relics of the homeland. Photo: Huy Thu