Bao Dap Communal House, Gia Lam Commune

Bao Dap Communal House belongs to Bao Dap Village, Kieu Ky Commune, now Hoang Chu Bao Village, Gia Lam Commune, Hanoi City. The communal house is where the two great kings Tran Thien Chan Vo, the local tutelary deity, and La Hoang Cong are worshipped and commemorated; these are deities who helped the villagers make a living and helped the country resist foreign invaders. The communal house has also been a center of spiritual and cultural activities for many generations. Its roof has always been closely tied to the spiritual life of local people, a place for meetings and for nurturing the cultural traditions of our ancestors over thousands of years, a place for educating the tradition of remembering the source when drinking water, and a place for teaching people always to turn toward goodness and righteousness.

Bao Dap Communal House is located on a high, spacious plot of land. According to the extant sacred genealogy, the communal house was built on a turtle's back, oriented toward the communal house (north-south direction); in front there is accumulated water, behind it rests on Kim Tinh, on the left is Thanh Long (Azure Dragon), and on the right is Bach Ho (White Tiger). Although it no longer has the imposing architecture of its founding period, Bao Dap Communal House remains a precious ancient treasure integrated into the cultural heritage treasury of the country.

The main hall is a three-bay building with two side wings, built on a foundation higher than the courtyard and surrounded by brick edging. On both sides are two lantern-style pillars; below, panels are filled with couplets in Chinese characters, and the lanterns are decorated with the four sacred animals and four noble plants. The pillar tops are decorated with gourd-shaped finials. The roof-supporting frame of the main hall is uniformly built in the style of 'stacked beams, gong-shaped brackets, and lower rafters'.

The rear sanctuary is a three-bay house built with closed gable-end walls and throne-shaped brackets; at the two gable ends are two small rectangular brick pillars. In the decoration of Bao Dap Communal House, some carved panels of artistic value from the early Le and Nguyen dynasties remain on the wooden frame of the main hall. The carved and decorative panels on the rafter ends and eave braces feature motifs of plants, dragons, clouds, etc.; on the corner brackets and beam ends are carvings of 19th-century dragons. Overall, with meticulous and detailed carving techniques and clear lines, they create vivid, vigorous images, giving the relic architectural and artistic value as well as many-sided values that should be respected and protected.