Located in the meeting place of the major sources of water in Quang Nam and due to the favorable internal and external elements, Hoi An revved and rapidly developed in the 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries. Hoi An port town and the “Silk road” and “Ceramic road” on the seas attracted lots of merchant boats form China,Japan, India, Thailand, Portugal, Holland, Britain, France... They were so many that “they all made quite a forest of masts on the river” (Thich Dai San wrote in his Overseas Diary) and commodities were so plentiful that “merchants could find whatever they wanted” and that “even hundreds of big sailing vessels (8.1 m wide and 45-60m long each) could not carry all of them away at the same time” (Le Quy Don wrote in Phu Bien Tap Luc).

  Hoi An in this time therefore, was the international port town of trades that was most developed in the country and Southeast Asia as well as the major economic base in Southern Viet Nam of the Nguyen Lords and Kings.

  By the end of the 19^th century, because of unfavorable conditions, the “sailing vessels port town of Hoi An ”gradually declined and gave its historic role in the hands of the “young industrial port city of DaNang”.

  During the 117 year assistance against foreign invaders for national salvation (1858-1975), thousands of Hoianians sacrificed their lives for the national independence and unification of the country. Many localities in Hoi An and some of them were named “hero” and “heroine”.  

On 28/8/1998, the Central Government of VietNam awarded Hoi An as a" Heroic Town of the Armed Forces”. On December 4^th, 1999, the UNESCO inscribed Hoi An on the World Heritage List