The Đồng Nai Province authority has announced the recognition of the megalithic Hàng Gòn tomb and Trấn Biên Literature Temple as special national heritage sites.

According to Lê Kim Bằng, director of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the tomb in Long Khánh town has a unique architecture rarely found elsewhere in Việt Nam or the world.

The site was discovered by French civil engineer J. Bouchot in 1927 during the construction of a road from Long Khánh Town to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

The tomb is made of huge granite stone slabs weighing 30-40 tonnes each. The rectangular shaped tomb is 4.2m long, 2.7m wide and 1.6m high. It is surrounded by many granite pillars 7.5m high.

Experts said the ancient tomb dates back to between 150BCE and 24CE.

Trấn Biên literature temple was built in 1715 in Bửu Long Ward in Biên Hoà city and renowned as the first literature temple built in the south.

The temple was renovated in 1794 and 1852 before being destroyed by the French colonialists in 1861.

In 1998 Đồng Nai rebuilt the 15ha temple to mark the 300th anniversary of Biên Hoà – Đồng Nai Region.