August 2019, while traveling in Vietnam Ho Chi Min City, formerly Saigon, was my more or less last destination of traveling 3 weeks in Vietnam and I made a city tour in the historical center of Saigon. First I went to the Independence Palace (Reunification Palace), originally build as Norodom Palace (French Governor House) and later became home and workplace for the president of South Vietnam. See photo of the Norodom Palace in 1875. It was the site to mark the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, when North Vietnamese army tanks crashed through its gates. But during the war it was severely damaged and a new palace was build in 1962.
As formerly capital city of the French colonisation of Vietnam, Saigon has many beautiful colonial style buildings. As architecture love I had to see a few of this, so my next destination was the Notre Dame (build in 1863 with material from French), the General Post Office (build in 1886), the Hotel de Ville (City Hall build in 1902) and the Opera House (build in 1897). Following are some photos I took while making my city tour.
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| Tanks that "liberated" the Norodom Palace in Saigon |
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| Notre Dame of Saigon |
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| Interior of the General Post Office in Saigon |
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| Interior of the General Post Office in Saigon |
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| Statue next to the GPO in Saigon |
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| Pillar of the Opera House in Saigon |
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| Detail of the Hotel de Ville in Saigon |
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| Detail of the Hotel de Ville in Saigon |
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