Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica

Located in the heart of District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, Notre Dame Cathedral is a massive ancient French architecture. This is also one of the symbols of Saigon and is a place of the must-visit list of domestic and foreign tourists on the free City Tour in Saigon.

About Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral has the official name of Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica. The architecture of the church was built according to the project of the architect Jourard with a Roman architectural style mixed with the Gothic architectural style, including a cathedral, bell tower and outside the park.

Notre Dame Cathedral

History of Notre Dame Cathedral

Shortly after taking Saigon, France set up a church to serve as a place of worship for Christians in the army. The first church was established on Road 5 (now is Ngo Duc Ke Street). This was the ground of a Vietnamese temple abandoned by the war, the former Padre Lefebvre had turned this temple into a church.

The first church was so small so that in 1863, Admiral Bonard decided to start construction of a wooden cathedral on the bank of Big canal.

In August 1876, the Southern Governor of Duperré organized an examination to draw a new church architecture project. In addition to the goal of a praying place for believers, the construction of the cathedral was also with the aim of displaying Christianity and the greatness of French civilization to the colonial people. Overcoming 17 other design projects, the project of architect J. Bourad with Roman-style architecture was chosen.

Inside the cathedral

Special features of Notre Dame Cathedral

During construction, all construction materials from cement, iron, steel, screws were brought from France. The exterior of the building is made of bricks made in Marseille to bare, not plastered. Some broken tiles in the church are printed with Guichard Carvin, Marseille St André France.

The foundation of the cathedral is specially designed to withstand 10 times the load of the entire church's structure above. And one special thing is that the church does not have a fence or a wall surrounding.

The interior of the cathedral is designed into the main hall, and the next two houses are two chapels. The entire length of the cathedral is 93m. The width of the largest place is 35 m. The height of the cathedral roof is 21 m. The capacity of the cathedral can reach 1,200 people.

The artworks on the inside are sculpted in pure marble. 56 colorful glass door panels put together to create a very beautiful image. All lines, edges, patterns comply with the elegant Roman and Gothic form.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The park in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

The front of the cathedral is a park (Paris Public Works) with four intersecting roads forming a cross, which is nearby Saigon Post Office. At the center of the park is the statue of the Lady of Peace (or Queen of Peace). The statue was made by sculptor G. Ciocchetti in 1959.

The name of the author is recorded on the dress at the foot, on the left side of the statue. The statue is 4.6 m high, weighs 8 tons, Italian white marble, carved with the intention to see from afar so it is not polished, so that the whole body, including the face that still wrinkles rough engraving. Statue of Mary in a standing posture, holding a globe, the eyes of the Blessed Mother staring at the sky as if praying for Vietnam and giving the world peace.

Notre Dame Cathedral is the highlight in the architecture of Ho Chi Minh city and the must-visit destination for those who travel to this city on the Mekong Delta and Saigon full day tour.