Located in the centre of Đồng Hới in the vicinity of Hùng Vương Street, Đồng Hới Citadel was originally constructed from earth by the first Nguyễn king Gia Long (1802-1819) in 1812 and later rebuilt of bricks by his son Minh Mạng (1820-1840). Large areas of the citadel were damaged during the French colonial period and most of the remainder was demolished by American bombs during the late 1960s. Today all that remains of the structure is one rather unsympathetically restored gate (located close to the new museum) and a section of the original wall next to Highway 1. In August 2005 the Quảng Bình Provincial Government announced the start of a VNĐ 31 billion restoration of this site.