Canh Tien Tower

A solitary Cham kalan tower in Binh Dinh Province (Vietnam) — a brick religious structure of the kingdom of Champa with the characteristic stepped silhouette. It stands on a gentle hill in the middle of former Do Ban, the capital of the region of Vijaya, from which the Cham rulers governed the country from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, and it is the only intact building of that city to have survived. Its height is about twenty metres, and the tower is dated to the twelfth century; four tiers repeat one another in diminishing form, and the corner pilasters are partly faced with sandstone, which is a rarity in Cham architecture. The name "Canh Tien" translates as "fairy wings": according to an old Vietnamese description, above the cornice all four sides spread apart as if they were raised wings. Do Ban fell in 1471, when the army of the Vietnamese sovereign Le Thanh Tong took the city, and Vijaya ceased to exist. Nearby survive the ramparts of Do Ban, which the Tay Son later adapted as their own citadel: in 1778 Nguyen Nhac proclaimed himself emperor here, and the site came to be called the Hoang De citadel. There is also a Vietnamese memorial temple to the commanders Vo Tanh and Ngo Tung Chau, who chose death over surrender during the siege of 1801.

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