Tourist Attractions & Monuments Vietnam

This region was once covered by the sea. The twisted shapes of the rocks are the result of erosion. The tour is by boat (approx. 2 hrs.). The technique of the rowers, who use their feet, is one of the charms of the trip. Depart from the pier in the center of the village. The presence of buses can wrongly be a deterrent. All you have to do is choose the solitude and light of dawn or the end of the day to enjoy the beauty of the place. This was one of the Viêt-Minh's rallying points during the Indochina war.

Serein and imposing at the same time, with its oaks, pines, ponds and rivers, affluents of the Perfume River, Song Huong: no site could have been more favourable to the rest of so August characters (the name of the Perfume River comes from the incense that once embaumait the river during the feasts given in honour of the emperor). All monuments are not to be seen (some of them, there is only a statuette, wall or brisée), but we must not hesitate to go into the small aisles: Some secondary graves are full of charm with their végétation covered stelas. The strictest géomancie rules were observed in the construction of these funeral palaces. For géomanciens, tombs were required to be surrounded by vegetation, to be oriented south and to be left to a hill (sometimes located not far behind). Bad minds were feared, including those of Barbarians coming from the North. Walls also served as protection: bad geniuses moving only in the right line, they had to face these obstacles. Last precaution, it was necessary in construction to respect the elements: wood, water, sky, wind breath, earth, moon and sun.

In 1863, the governor of Cochinchine decided to have a wooden church built. The building was completed in 1865, but deteriorated rather quickly. In 1876, the decision is made to build a cathedral. The neo-Romanesque style project is based on a reduction of the model of Notre-Dame de Paris. The materials were imported from France, including red brick from Toulouse and stained glass windows made in Chartres. The cathedral was inaugurated in 1883. In 1962, the cathedral becomes the basilica-cathedral of Notre-Dame de Saïgon. Renovation work has been underway since 2017.

Prison remains of the French administration. The prison resumed service during the American War. It was declared a historic monument in 1993. Opened to the public shortly afterwards, it was even "restored" with the establishment of new barbed wire networks and very realistic depictions of the atrocities suffered by the prisoners. The Red Cross visited the prison in 1969 and 1972 and confirmed the systematic nature of torture. The overly demonstrative aspect of the reconstructions will not be suitable for all visitors.

In the past, this building was the printing house of the Far East. In Art Deco style, it is signed G.-A. Trouvé.