Colonial charm of Saigon - Dong Khoi and surrounds
Saigon Opera House puts on regular performances
No area of Saigon quite represents 60 years of change as much as Dong Khoi Street. It has been a key part of the city’s life since French colonial rule when it was called Rue Catinat. The name then changed to Tu Do Street in the 60s and was at the centre of the Vietnam wartime sleaze and intrigue. The street remains home to a large number of the city’s most significant colonial era buildings.
Dong Khoi’s three different names represent markers for each stage in its history. During times of French colonial rule it was Rue Catinat. During the war-plagued existence of South Vietnam it was Tu Do (Freedom Street), and in 1975, when the communists took controls, the name changed to Dong Khoi Street (Total Revolution Street).
The street has undergone remarkable changes, from being the centre of glamour during French colonial times to an insalubrious hotspot during the war. Then, from the late 70s to the early 80s, when commerce grounded to a halt in the post-war era, the street’s shutters came down.
However, a fourth era began around two decades ago and this significant street once again became Saigon’s commercial heartbeat. In recent times, global brands have taken over Dong Khoi along with chic local boutiques, restaurants and cafes. New office towers appear destined to dominate this narrow tree-lined street, casting shadows over its grand French apartment blocks from the 1920s and its many low rise shophouses.
A wander along Dong Khoi will give visitors an insight of the remains of Saigon’s French colonial architecture, something which is rapidly disappearing.
Notre Dame Basilica is classic French
The Notre Dame Cathedral, undoubtedly the city’s most famous landmark, was built in 1880 and is the dominant feature in Paris Commune Square, remaining predominantly-Buddhist Vietnam’s centre of Catholicism. The cathedral appears strangely out of place due to its Romanesque and Gothic-style architecture. Its twin towers climb 190 feet high in the air, while its red bricks were all imported from Marseilles and its stained glass windows made in the French province of Chartres.
Notre Dame is does not allow visitors inside, except during Sunday Mass. Those looking to step within and marvel at the interior would be advised to take up religion – if only for a day – and attend this weekly occasion.
Located in the same plaza is the incredible Central Post Office, designed by Gustav Eiffel in 1891. The building is another magnificent structure leftover from colonial times. Its grand interior retains traces of the French occupancy. Check out the vintage maps of Saigon and Vietnam on each side of the chamber, directly above the phone booths and ATMs. The post office in still operating, but even of you have no cards or parcels to send, it’s well worth paying a visit to.
The Majestic Hotel was erected in 1925 and is among the street’s most notable buildings. This charming landmark overlooks the Saigon River and was built in French Riviera and French Colonial styles.
Roughly halfway along Dong Khoi is Lam Son Square. Just two of the original French colonial buildings remain standing here – the Opera House (1887) and the Continental House (1880). The Opera House was the South Vietnamese House of Assembly until 1975, when the government collapsed. Its stunning interior and exterior architecture makes the theatre well worth paying a visit to. The Continental Hotel featured in the Hollywood film The Quiet American, an adaption Graham Greene’s namesake novel.
Away from Dong Khoi Street there are several other impressive pieces of colonial architecture such as the Hotel de Ville on Le Thanh Ton Street, just a short walk away. It is now officially called the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Building, but was originally known as the Hotel de Ville after being completed in 1908. Its design was inspired by town halls across Europe.
Some Saigon cafes would be at home in Paris!
The Hotel de Ville is now an official government building and, thus, closed to the public. However, its stunning French colonial architecture and cream-and-yellow hue, in addition to its iconic Ho Chi Minh statue, make it one of Saigon’s prominent symbols and a popular tourist attraction.
The next block up on Ly TU Trong Street is the Ho Chi City Museum, formerly the Gia Long Palace – the mansion of the former French governor. Completed in 1890, the building has served for a number of purposes over the years. It was first built to house a commercial museum, but later became the residence of Cochin-china’s governor and then the French colonial headquarters.
After Saigon fell it became the Revolutionary Museum, and is now the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. Its main draw is its collection of photographs depicting the country’s revolutions, from the French colonial era to war with the US. On the museum’s grounds is a war relic collection, featuring war planes, a helicopter, a tank and classical French automobiles.
