The Bomb Shelter of the Sofitel Legend Metropole and the Historic Buildings in Duong Lam Village, both in Hanoi, have recently been honored at the 2013 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Accordingly, the bomb shelter receives an Honorable Mention at a ceremony held on Monday. The shelter was discovered in 2011 when construction workers were laying the foundation of a new garden bar at the hotel. Meanwhile, the Historic Buildings in Duong Lam Village won an Award of Merit. In 2005, the village was recognized as a national relic since it has many houses dating back hundreds of years ago.

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards recognize the efforts of private individuals and organizations that have successfully restored and conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region. 

Eligible projects must be more than 50 years old and the restoration must have been completed within the past 10 years. Buildings must have been in viable use for at least one year from the date of the Awards announcement.

Besides the two Vietnamese relics, ten other projects were also honored. There are 47 entries from 16 countries in the region submitted for consideration to 2013’s UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards program. The entries included museums, hotels, offices, cultural institutions, educational institutions, religious sites, industrial sites, public institutions, residential buildings and urban districts.