Old Downtown Hanoi

Nearly all the photographs of Hanoi are from the Hoan Kiem District

Hanoi Urban Districts
The old Hanoi is contained within four districts: Hoàn Kiếm, Ba Đình, Hai Bà Trưng and Đống Đa. These districts are vastly contrasted by the skyscrapers and shopping malls in the newer Western districts Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Ha Dong and Nam Tu Liem.

• Hoàn Kiếm District - center of the city, with its core in the Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword Lake). You most likely will stay and visit this district first. The fascinating Old Quarter covers its northern half while its southern half has mostly French architecture with shady streets and villas. A large number of foreign embassies are located in the southern half of Hoan Kiem. The district also houses a majority of Hanoi's tourist attractions, including Hoan Kiem lake, Ngoc Son temple, The Huc Bridge, the neo-Gothic Hanoi Grand Cathedral (St. Joseph's Cathedral), Hoa Lo prison, Eiffel-designed Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi Opera House and several museums.
• Ba Đình District: political center of Vietnam, housing the national assembly building, president's palace, Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and most embassies. It also contains the One-Pillar Pagoda and the recently discovered Thang Long Citadel. The French Quarter with large shady boulevards is in its eastern part. Its northeastern part surrounds the Truc Bach lake where John McCain's plane was shot down. Its western part is mostly residential with a large number of new skyscrapers around the Japanese Embassy on Lieu Giai street.
• Hai Bà Trưng District: located south of Hoan Kiem with the largest population of all districts. Its northern part also has French-style streets with big trees. A large number of universities, including the Hanoi University of Technology are located here. Times City, in the southeast of the district, is a huge shopping mall with an aquarium located within the complex.
• Đống Đa District: one of the original four central districts, is mostly residential. The Temple of Literature - Imperial Academy (Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám), Vietnam's first university, is located in the north end of the district, bordering Ba Dinh.

Source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hanoi
 

Van Hieu Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi, Vietnam

Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám sometimes incorrectly called "Temple of Literature” is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple hosts the "Imperial Academy", Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. The temple is located to the south of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. The various pavilions, halls, statues and stelae of doctors are places where offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Đại Việt took place. The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese đồng banknote. Just before the Vietnamese New Year celebration Tết, calligraphists will assemble outside the temple and write wishes in Hán characters. The art works are given away as gifts or are used as home decorations for special occasions.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%83n_Mi%E1%BA%BFu_-_Qu%E1%BB%91c_T%E1%BB%AD_Gi%C3%A1m,_Hanoi

Hỏa Lò Prison​

Hỏa Lò Prison was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War. During this later period it was sarcastically known to American POWs as the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, though the gatehouse remains as a museum.

Vietnamese Women’s Museum

Vietnamese Women’s Museum was established in 1987, and run is by the Vietnam Women’s Union. The construction started on an existing building in 1991, according to architect Tran Xuan Diem plans, and opened to the public in 1995.[2] The exhibition presents objects from a large collection (around 28,000 items) gathered by the museum and the Vietnam Women’s Union since the 1970s.[3] Those artefacts are related to the role of women in family life and history.

From 2006 to 2010, the museum was closed for modernisation, with funds from the Vietnamese Government, the Vietnamese Women’s Union, and the Ford Foundation. The Vietnamese Women’s Museum reopened to the public in 2010, with a contemporary architecture and modern facilities, and a new permanent exhibition organized around three themes: Women in Family, Women In History and Women’s Fashion. At the same time, the museum has moved from a cultural and historical museum to a gender museum, providing information on cultural traditions, and issues of social and contemporary life.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_Women%E2%80%99s_Museum
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87 Ma May House (built late 19th century)

The 87 Ma May house is a classic example of late 19th-century housing in Hanoi's Old Quarter. It was renovated by a UNESCO-funded organization to a close approximation of its original condition. Many houses in the Old Quarter are known as "tube houses" since they can be as long as 70 meters and as narrow as two meters--this developed as an attempt to minimize taxes, as each property was taxed according to the width of the street-facing facade. To allow for sufficient light in these narrow dwellings, it was necessary to design multiple courtyards along the length of each house. Although the 87 Ma May house is comparatively wide, it was designed along the same principals.
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Source: http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/695/vietnam/hanoi/87-ma-may-house