The iconic sea-ruined church of Hải Lý in Ninh Bình has been officially recognized as Vietnam’s first climate change monument tourism site, marking a century-old coastal landmark that now stands directly at the water’s edge as a stark, tangible record of rising seas and shifting shorelines.
The decision establishes the site within the regional tourism framework while tasking local leadership in Hải Tiến commune with its day-to-day management, preservation, and sustainable development.
Provincial officials have outlined a coordinated oversight plan involving multiple regional departments. The provincial departments of tourism, finance, construction, agriculture and environment, along with the provincial police, are directed to guide local administrators in balancing public access with structural preservation and environmental safety.
A Century of Coastal Erosion in Hải Lý and Xương Điền
Built roughly a century ago, the structure originally served as the Church of the Sacred Heart for the coastal fishing community of Xương Điền, which traces its settlement back to the late 17th and early 18th centuries reported by Vnexpress. Generations of residents historically fought to hold back the tides by constructing earthen dikes, including the nearly 12-kilometer Ngự Hàm dike built between 1864 and 1885 to protect newly reclaimed agricultural lands.
Despite those engineering efforts, relentless storms, heavy waves, and coastal erosion progressively battered the shoreline. Major dike breaches forced defensive retreats over the decades: roughly 3 kilometers of coastal dikes gave way in 1925, another 1.5 kilometers were destroyed in 1990 requiring defenses to be pushed inland by 150 meters, and a 700-meter stretch suffered severe collapse in 2005. Over a span of nearly one hundred years, erosion consumed between 0.5 and 1 kilometer of coastal land in Hải Hậu, steadily pushing the Xương Điền coastline inland under the combined pressure of winds, currents, and storms.
The fact that a structure built about 100 years ago now sits on the beach, outside the dike, provides valuable material for studying the history of shoreline fluctuations. At the same time, it shows how humans must constantly reinforce dikes, protect land, and maintain production against the impacts of nature. PGS.TSKH Vũ Cao Minh, former deputy director of the Institute of Geology at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, via Vnexpress
By July 2026, the church’s remaining bell tower stood directly against the breaking waves. The site draws thousands of visitors annually, particularly during the summer months noted by Báo Dân trí, functioning simultaneously as a striking coastal destination and a natural geological laboratory.
Global Precedents for Preserving Climate Ruins
The formal designation creates an official precedent in Vietnam for treating post-disaster ruins not as lost infrastructure, but as educational assets. Experts draw parallels to international preservation efforts where communities deliberately retain structures battered by sea level rise or extreme weather to teach public disaster preparedness.
In the United Kingdom, the twin towers of St. Mary’s Church in Kent are preserved to mark coastal erosion. In the United States, storm-affected landmarks serve as focal points within parks and memorials following disasters like Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Meanwhile, Taiwan maintains the Siaolin landslide and debris flow memorial park established after Typhoon Morakot in 2009 to combine disaster victims’ remembrance with geological education.
The value of a monument site is not just keeping a structure intact, but helping people understand why the building is located there, how the coastline has changed, and how humans have responded. When this is achieved, the monument gains true scientific, educational, and tourism value. PGS.TSKH Vũ Cao Minh, via Vnexpress
Expanding Provincial Tourism and Ecological Sites
The recognition of the Hải Lý church ruins arrives alongside parallel regional designations aimed at expanding ecological and historical tourism.
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