The city of Hue in central Vietnam was the national capital from 1802–1945, when it housed the Emperors of the ruling Nguyen Dynasty. Hue is situated on the Perfume River, just a few kilometres from a narrow peninsula with a lagoon on one side and beach on the other. Perhaps the best known attraction is the vast Imperial City, built in the 19th Century, surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls and including the Imperial Citadel with palaces and shrines and the Forbidden Purple City.