Ô Chợ Dừa

Middle Ages

According to Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, the Lý Dynasty began building Thăng Long the new capital in 1009, and that is why the five gates were erected. In there, Thịnh Quang Quarter (盛光門, Thịnh Quang môn) was the official name of the southwest gate of the citadel, which lay at the bank of Tô Lịch River. Thịnh Quang was later renamed as Thịnh Hào. The area quickly developed into such a densely populated location that the court decided to establish an administrative unit called Thịnh Hào Ward (盛豪坊, Thịnh Hào phường). The stretch from the gate to the riverbank has been informally referred to as Hoàng Cầu Village^{[note 4]} (黄橋村, Hoàng Cầu thôn) and Thái Hà Hamlet^{[note 5]} (泰河邑, Thái Hà ấp). These two informal administrative units were originally granted to two officials, who had many meritorious deeds, as their private real estate : Mai Anh Tuấn (Hoàng Cầu by the Nguyễn court) and Hoàng Cao Khải (Thái Hà by the French protecture). However, these officials did not have permanent ownership, so after their death, the authority took it back to redistribute to the common people. In any case, the greatest legacy that these two officials left for posterity was their contribution to the construction of two very famous works of Hanoi : Hoàng Cầu Communal Hall (đình Hoàng Cầu) and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Thái Hà (simply Thái Hà Church, Nhà thờ Thái Hà).

20th century

When the Government of Tonkin began to re-plan Hanoi City in a new way from 1902, the area of Thịnh Hào Ward consisted of only two villages Hoàng Cầu and Thái Hà. Thịnh Hào has been allowed to dissolve to form three new wards Hoàng Cầu, Ô Chợ Dừa and Thái Hà.

In 1956, musician Đoàn Chuẩn and his some friends established a small space on Hào Nam Slope (dốc Hào Nam) called the Vietnam Music School (trường Âm nhạc Việt Nam). The institution quickly grew to become the Vietnam National Academy of Music (Học viện Âm nhạc Quốc gia Việt Nam), one of the leading music schools in Asia.

Until the late 1990s, the Hanoi City People's Committee approved a project that was considered unimaginable in the context of a very difficult national economy. The city authority boldly did not seek the consent of the people and localities to proceed with the recovery of the intersection area of the two villages Hoàng Cầu and Thái Hà, then provided funds to dig a regulating lake. It has a water surface area of 12.5 hectares with a 1,900m embankment length, which is used to store floodwater as well as provide clean water and fresh fish for part of Đống Đa Urban District. Currently, Hoàng Cầu Lake is in the process of upgrading and expanding to become the largest ecosystem in the city.^[1]

21st century

According to Project No. 369/ĐA-CP dated May 9, 2025 of the Government of Vietnam on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units in the Hanoi Metropolitan Area 2025, new Ô Chợ Dừa Ward (phường Ô Chợ Dừa) was founded on natural and population conditions from :

• All of former wards Cát Linh, Điện Biên, Hàng Bột, Ô Chợ Dừa, Thành Công, Trung Liệt.
• Part of old Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám Ward.

Climate