Thợ Nhuộm Street, cutting diagonally across. Hai Bà Trưng and Lý Thường Kiệt, was once part of a large swampy area outside the Thăng Long Citadel. Access to the area was via a beaten path leading from the South Gate (Cửa Nam) of the Citadel. Within this area, dyers (Thợ Nhuộm) plied their trade, dying most fabrics black, the most popular color for women's trousers. Once dyed, the fabrics were spread out in this vast area to dry. During French rule, the name of 'the street changed but not its meaning. The French called it Rue des Teinturiers. In 1954, follow*ing French withdrawal from Vietnam, the street's Vietnamese name was restored. Number 90 Thợ Nhuộm is particularly note*worthy. In the cellar of this French villa owned by French auditor Duot, Duot' s cook, Tạ Văn Bân, harbored Trần Phú. Here the revolutionary leader and first Communist Party General Secretary drafted the Party's political thesis shortly after the founding of the Party.