Thien An Monastery

On a hill in An Tây Ward, in the city of Hue, the morning bell rings before the sun has pushed through the crowns of the pines. This is Thiên An Hill, and on it stands Thiên An Monastery. It was founded in 1940, and it is still here today.

The monastery belongs to the Benedictine order, called Biển Đức in Vietnamese. It is a religious order that began in Europe. Yet when the first monks reached this quiet, pine-covered hill, they did not bring Western architecture, as people might expect. The monastery rose with curved roofs and lines that carry a strong East Asian feel, a strange and rare harmony that few places have. People often call it the Da Lat of Hue. Both have the same cool air and the sound of pines, and a sense of standing outside the flow of time.

To make this monastery, the monks planted the pines themselves, row by row, on bare ground. They came from far away, unused to the land and the climate, but they kept planting and tending. Small seeds turned the wild, empty hill into a deep green forest around the monastery. It was the work of many years and many seasons, and of more than a few people who spent their whole lives here without leaving.

The forest is tall and thick now. In the early morning, the bell sounds from the monastery and joins the wind in the pines. The two sounds weave together in a way that no written music could match. A visitor who stands here on a quiet morning will understand why people call this place a haven of peace among the pines of the old capital.

Thiên An Monastery makes no noise and runs no advertising. Yet it has stood here since 1940, quiet and firm, like the pines the monks planted in the hill's soil long ago. Some places need no fame to become part of the memory of Hue. This monastery is one of them.