Located on Tuy Van mountain (or Thuy Van mountain), the mountain is ranked 9th by Thieu Tri emperor in 20 beautiful landscapes of the land of Capital, next to the mouth of Tu Dung Sea (today is Tu Hien estuary, in Vinh Hien commune, Phu Loc district, Thua Thien Hue province), Thanh Duyen pagoda was built under Nguyen Phuc Tan lord (second half of the 17th century) is a famous pagoda of ancient Hue. Over time, the pagoda has been restored and repaired many times, but so far it is still a beautiful and famous national pagoda of Hue.

In 1996, the Thanh Duyen Pagoda was recognized by the government as a national cultural-historical relic.

According to the "Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi", in 1648, Lord Nguyen Phuc Tan traveled through Tam Giang lagoon and discovered a small shrine. The Lord has built a small pagoda on the ancient floor to be a place of blessing for all the people. After many years of fire, the pagoda was abandoned, until the 6th year of Minh Mang, in 1825 the emperor came here and rebuilt the pagoda. But it was not until 1836, that the king built the temple completely and ordained it to the national pagoda.

The temple consists of a temple, a garret, and a tower. The pagoda is called Thanh Duyen, the garret is called Dai Tu, and the tower is called Dieu Ngu. The king also gave two sentences on the name of the temple as follows: "Holy means Buddha, Buddha means holy, holy sighted, the method of deploying the Buddha's deep devotion - the grace of the visionary, the kindness of the visionary, the kindness of the faithful, the kindness of the benevolent"; Translated to mean: "Holy means Buddha, the Buddha is the saint, because there are new saints who reveal the deep Dharma - the root of the cause, the root of grace, whenever there is a new virtue, it expands the kindness everywhere".

As a famous scenic spot of the Hue capital, Tuy Van Mountain and Thanh Duyen Pagoda were often frequented by elderly people. In particular, Minh Mang Emperor, Thieu Tri Emperor, and Tu Duc Emperor have also visited many times and left many wonderful poetic works praising the beautiful scenery here. For example, the poem "Van Son Triumphs" by Thieu Tri emperor and 4 poems praising the beautiful scenery of Thanh Duyen pagoda, Dai Tu garret, Dieu Ngu tower, and Tuy Van mountain of Minh Mang emperor. These poems are engraved on stone steles and are still preserved at the temple.

The pagoda is bold in the architectural style of the Nguyen Dynasty, not magnificent, massive, though small, humble but delicate. The main hall is built in the traditional Hue style of house mixed with a bit of royal architecture with a tiled roof, windows decorated in the shape of "Tho" letter, surrounded by walls. Behind the main hall, a large garden, in the middle of the mountain, there are Dai Tu garret, the middle area is the Buddha worship, the area on the right to worship Quan Yin and the area on the left to worship Bodhisattva Dai Chi. At the top of the mountain is Dieu Ngu, a 3-storey tower about 13m high. Standing at the highest level of the tower, the view from the distance is a charming landscape with vast lagoons and blue mountains.

In addition to the architectural system bearing the imprint of the Nguyen Dynasty architectural style, the Thanh Duyen Pagoda also has 113 ancient trees with a lifespan of 200 years such as pine, mango, jackfruit, ironwood... The abbot Thich Minh Chinh said that the ancient pine trees across the sky as the words of the poet Nguyen Cong Tru: "In the next life, please do not be a man - Be a pine tree stand in the middle of the sky to ring" is also a symbol of this national pagoda.

The road to the pagoda runs between the ancient pine trees, about 5m wide, and about 50m long, with all 38 steps of stairs. All 3 architectures pagoda, garret, and tower over hundreds of years still exist and have been restored. Particularly, Dieu Ngu tower, located on the top of the mountain, from here can open the panoramic view of Tam Giang Lagoon, Tu Hien sea gate, and Bach Ma Mountain far away.

The Thanh Duyen pagoda on Thuy Van Son is a bold mark of the process of expanding the borders of the ancient fathers. Tuy Van is a charming landscape, four seasons of green water, on the mountain, there is the Thanh Duyen Pagoda, which is placed in the national order, at the foot of the mountain, there is a vast and poetic Tam Giang lagoon, worthy of being one of the most scenic places in the land of the Capital.

This temple used to be the place where many Nguyen Dynasty kings prayed to the nation for peace. 

From the center of Hue city, visitors can take a car or motorbike to Tuy Van mountain according to two different routes. The first route is about more than 50km long, which is from Hue city to Thuan An, then follow the coastal road to reach the mountain. The second route is about 60km long, along National Highway 1A to the northern end of Phuoc Tuong road tunnel, then turn left on National Highway 49b to go about 10km further.

Today, coming to the scenic Thanh Duyen Pagoda on Tuy Van Mountain, visitors are not only immersed in the natural Buddha scene to calm the mind, and wash away all sorrows, but also have the opportunity to discover the idyllic but poetic beauty of the fishing villages along Tam Giang Lagoon, the largest and most mysterious lagoon in Southeast Asia.

Walking up the mountain to visit the meditation gate, in the middle of the peaceful water scene, when there was only the rustling of forest leaves mixed with the murmur of water waves and the sound of barbaric prayers at noon and summer, the hearts of the travelers suddenly became unusually relaxed and so many sorrows seemed to disappear.