Quan Y Cave in Cat Ba is a cave with the most unique beauty in the Cat Ba archipelago. It was once designed as a field hospital to serve the resistance war against the US but still retains its natural, unique beauty.
Overview of Quan Y Cave
Located halfway up the mountain, on the only road across the island, Quan Y Cave belongs to Hung Son Cave, about 8km from Cat Ba town. This tourist destination is located in Hai Son village, Tran Chau commune, Cat Hai island district, Hai Phong city.
Previously, the cave was named Hung Son, a Vietnamese hero and was also the one who discovered the cave. However, the story of this cave contains many more miracles than that.
During the war against the US, around the 1960s, the cave was designed as a hospital for wounded soldiers and a shelter from bombs for local people as well as people from neighboring Bach Long Vy island with a capacity of about 100 patients. The Quan Y Cave is truly a masterpiece of wartime, as the structure was built entirely inside the mountain, a makeshift hospital built in the cave is an ideal place for rehabilitation, shelter, and avoidance of bombs and bullets. Since 1963, this place has been named the Quan Y (Vietnamese: Quân Y, means military hospital) Cave.
The cave with its special structure reflects the extraordinary creativity of humans. The estimated area of the field hospital is about 2000 m².
Unique structure of the cave
Through the ups and downs of history, the cave architecture of Quan Y cave is still intact. The structure is built in a closed reinforced concrete, the length between the two caves is about 200 meters, designed with the front door facing West, the back door facing East.
The first floor is a functional area with 14 rooms with a solid reinforced concrete structure. The lighting along the corridor and each room is equipped separately, ensuring full medical examination and treatment.
The second and third floors are a natural stone cave area with a cinema room, a physical examination room, a reception hall, a guard room and rooms for officers.
Built as a wartime hospital, Quan Y cave is equipped with a perfect entrance, drainage, ventilation system… In the cave, there are traces of wooden bars attached to the wall to make a medicine cabinet, the emergency exit from the third floor to the first floor leads to the back door hidden behind large stalagmites on the mountainside.
The Quan Y Cave represents a large military hospital during the war with full equipment and treatment areas for hundreds of people.
Medical supplies on display in the cave.
weapons warehouse
The most unique feature of the Quan Y Cave is its closed structure, located inside the Hung Son Cave. Therefore, the entire exterior appearance still retains its inherent majestic and wild features. That is the poetic natural beauty that you will admire at the exit of the cave.
Right at the entrance to the first cave, visitors will encounter a solid iron door. The door is designed with a curve to prevent bullets and bomb fragments instead of letting them hit directly and damage the door. Right behind the solid door with 4 auxiliary iron bolts, 1 main bolt is the entrance to the field hospital with an extremely grand scale. The entrance may be a bit small, making you a bit scared because of its coldness and lack of light.
In recent years, cave exploration activities in Cat Ba have increasingly attracted many tourists, the cave system with eco-tourism, community tours, hiking … in Viet Hai, Tran Chau … is contributing to the development of tourism in Cat Ba. In particular, with historical value and architectural value formed by the combination of nature and human hands, Quan Y cave is becoming an attractive destination in the journey of experiences to this beautiful island./.
Source: collected by An
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