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> Hoan
Kiem Lake
The lake which is not as large as Ho Tay to the
northwest is situated in the center of the city.
Because of its unique location Sword Restored Lake
is billed as a basket of lower placed in the
middle of Hanoi. The name of Sword Restored Lake
is derived from a legend which has it that King Le
Thai To had a precious sword. The sword. The sword
had always been on his side during the 10-year
resistance against the Ming aggressors. After he
won over the foreign aggression and returned to
Thang Long Citadel. One day he went out and
boarded a royal boat to cruise in the lake.
Suddenly he saw a giant turtle emerging and coming
towards him. The king withdrew his sword and
pinpointed with the sword the direction of the
coming turtle for his soldiers' attention. All of
a sudden, the turtle caught the sword between its
teeth from the king's hand and submerged. The king
thought that it might have been that during the
resistance war against the Minh aggression, the
king was offered sword by genie to help him defeat
the enemy. Now when peace has returned the genie
appeared and took back the sword. With that
thought in mind, King Le Thai To named the lake
after episode as Ho Hoan Kiem (Lake of Restored
Sword).
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