Quan Y Cave on Cat Ba is the most beautiful cave in the Cat Ba archipelago. It was once designed as a field hospital to serve the resistance war against the US, but it 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 is part of Hung Son Cave, about 8km from Cat Ba town. This tourist destination is located in Hai Son village, Dac Khu Cat Hai, Hai Phong City.
Previously, the cave was named after Hung Son, a Vietnamese hero who also discovered it. 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 architecture, as the structure was built entirely within 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 known as the Quan Y (Vietnamese: Quân Y, meaning “military hospital”) Cave.
The cave, with its distinctive structure, reflects the extraordinary creativity of humans. The estimated area of the field hospital is approximately 2,000 m².
Unique structure of the cave
Through the ups and downs of history, the cave architecture of Quan Y Cave remains intact. The structure is built in a closed, reinforced concrete enclosure. The length between the two caves is about 200 meters, and it is designed with the front door facing West and the back door facing East.
The first floor is a functional area comprising 14 rooms, with a solid reinforced-concrete structure. The lighting along the corridor and in 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, and ventilation system… In the cave, there are traces of wooden bars attached to the wall, forming 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 served as a large military hospital during the war, with full medical equipment and treatment areas for hundreds of people.
The most distinctive feature of the Quan Y Cave is its enclosed structure, located within 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 from hitting the door directly and damaging it. Right behind the solid door, secured with 4 auxiliary iron bolts and 1 main bolt, is the entrance to the field hospital, on 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 and architectural value formed by the combination of nature and human hands, Quan Y cave is becoming an attractive destination on the journey of experiences to this beautiful island.
Source: collected by An
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