One of the most stunning sights in Hoi An area is My Son, Vietnam's most important Cham site, and as of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the century when Tra Kieu ( then known as Simhapura)served as the political capital of Champa, My Son was the site of the most important Cham intellectual and religious centre, and also may served as a burial place for Cham monarchs. My Son is considered to be Cham's counterpart to the grand cities of South-East Asia's other Indian influenced civilizations: Angkor( Cambodia), Bagan( Myanmar)Ayuthaya (Thailand) and Borobudur (Java).

The monuments are set in a verdant valley surrounded by hills and overlooked by massive Cat's Tooth Mountain ( Hon Quap). Clear streams( perfect for a dip) run between the structures and past nearby coffe plantations.

My Son became religious centre under King Bhadravarman in the late 14th century and was occupied untill the 13th century- the longest period of development of any monument in South-East Asia (by comparison, Angkor's period of development lasted only three centuries, as did that of Bagan). Most of the temples were dedicated to Cham kings associated to divinities, especially Chiva, who was regarded as the founnder and protector of Cham's dynasties.

Champa's contact with Java was extensive. Cham scholars were sent to study and there was a great deal of commerce between the two empires- Cham pottery has been founded on Java and, in the 12th century, the Cham king wed a Java woman.

Because some of the ornamentation work at My Son was never finished, archaeologists know that the Chams fisrt built their structures and only then carved decorations into the brickwork. Researchers have yet to figure out for certain how the Chams managed to get the baked bricks to stick together. According to one theory, they used a paste prepared with a botanical oil indigenous to central Vietnam. During one period in their history, the summits of some of the towers were covered with a lay of gold.

During the American War, the My Son region was completely devastrated and depopulated in extended bitter fighting. Traces of 68 structures have been found, of which 25 survived repeated pillaging in previous centuries by the Chinese, Khmer and Vietnamese.