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Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral has always been a symbolic image of Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, especially in terms of tourism. This is always one of the indispensable places on every tour of Ho Chi Minh City because it carries a lot of spiritual, cultural, and architectural values that have been preserved for many years.
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1. An Introduction to Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral
Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral is the short name for Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and it is the symbolic building of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) located in the center of District 1 (HCMC).
This project was started in 1877, completed in 1880, and designed by architect J. Bourad in French architecture. All construction and interior decoration costs for this project at that time were about 2,500,000 French francs (410,000 USD).
The cathedral was consecrated a Basilica in 1962 and has since been called by another name, Immaculate Conception Cathedral Basilica, and became the cathedral of the archbishop of Saigon to this day.
2. The Construction of the Cathedral
The Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral has a total length of 91m, a width of 35.5m, a main dome of 21m high, and two bell towers on both sides nearly 57m high. The architecture of Notre Dame Cathedral is imbued with ancient French architecture and modified Roman architectural style mixed with Gothic architectural style, built according to the project of architect J.Bourard.
2.1 The Interior Design of the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon
During the construction process, all construction materials from cement, and steel to screws were brought from France.
The cathedral's foundation is specially designed to withstand a load 10 times greater than the entire structure of the building. A very special thing is that the church does not have a surrounding fence or wall like churches around the Saigon area both in the past and in the present.
The interior of the cathedral is designed with a main corridor in the middle, two secondary corridors on both sides, and followed by two rows of chapels. The entire length of the cathedral is 93 m. The width at its widest point is 35 m. The height of the cathedral's dome is 21 m. The capacity of the cathedral can reach 1,200 people.
In addition, there are two main rows of rectangular columns, six on each side representing the 12 apostles.
The interior of the cathedral at night has been illuminated by electricity (no candles) since its inauguration. During the day, the perfect lighting design, in harmony with the interior, creates a soft light in the interior of the cathedral, creating a feeling of peace and holiness.
2.2 Altar in the Holy Palace
The altar in the Holy Palace of the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral is made of monolithic marble with images of six angels carved directly into the stone block supporting the altar surface. The pedestal is divided into three cells, each cell is a sculpture depicting a relic.
Right behind the main colonnade is a hallway and next to it are many small chapels with altars of saints (more than 20 altars) and altars of the 14 Stations of the Cross made of quite sophisticated white stone.
2.3 The Walls of The Immaculate Conception Cathedral Basilica
The walls are prominently decorated with 56 glass windows depicting characters or events in the Bible, 31 round rose shapes, and 25 multicolored glass bull's-eye windows.
However, out of these 56 glass doors, only four are currently intact, and the other stained glass doors were all redone around 1949 to replace the church's original stained glass doors that were damaged during World War II.
2.3 The Organ
Right above the main door is the "organ guard" with a pipe organ, one of the two oldest organs in Vietnam today. This organ is hand-made and specifically designed by foreign experts so that the sound of the instrument is enough for the whole church to hear, not too small but not noisy either.
The body of the instrument is about 3 m high, 4 m wide, about 2 m long, containing aluminum steam pipes about an inch in diameter.
2.4 The Bell Tower
Initially, the two bell towers were 36.6 m high, had no roof, and only had a narrow staircase about 40 cm wide. In 1895, the cathedral built two additional roofs to cover the 21 m high bell tower, according to the design of architect Gardes, for a total of 57 m high bell tower. There are a total of six bells with six tones, hanging on two bell towers. This set of bells was made in France and brought to Saigon in 1879.
On the face of each bell, there are very sophisticated patterns. The total weight of the bell set is about 27 tons. If we include the counterweight system (1,840 kg) mounted on each bell, the total weight of the bell set will be nearly 29 tons.
2.5 The Park
The park of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral lies in front of the cathedral with four intersecting roads forming a cross. The center of the park is the statue of Our Lady of Peace, made by sculptor G. Ciocchetti in 1959. The statue is 4.6 m high, weighs 8 tons, made of Italian white marble.
More than 700 m2 of the park in front of Notre Dame Cathedral was invested with more than 630 million VND to renovate into a colorful flower garden, re-paving the floor, repairing the walkways, placing many trash cans around, etc.
2.6 The Carillon of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral
At the end of 2022, a 25-bell carillon was imported and installed in the grounds in front of the Cathedral. The bells are hung in a fir wood structure made in Germany, with properties suitable for the climatic conditions and intended use in Saigon.
3. Tourist information of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral
After reading the above information, visitors will surely want to learn about some tourist information about Notre Dame Cathedral.
Opening Hours:
- From Monday to Saturday: 5:30 am; 5:30 p.m
- Sunday: 5:30; 6:45 am; 8:00 am; 9:30 am (mass in English); 16:00; 5:15 p.m.; 6:30 p.m.
Specifically, according to Notre Dame's mass schedule, on weekdays the church will have 2 masses taking place, 1 mass starting at 5:30 a.m. and 1 afternoon mass at 5:30 p.m. On Sunday alone, there will be 7 masses, taking place at 5:30 am, 6:45 am, 8:00 am, 9:30 am (mass in English), 4:00 pm, 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm.
Ticket Price: Free
Means of transportation: Because it is located in the center of the busiest city in Vietnam, visitors can find the church by private or public means such as motorbike taxi, cyclo, bus, or taxi. For tourists staying at nearby hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, they can choose to walk.
Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the best attractive tourist destinations in Ho Chi Minh City besides other symbols such as the Independence Palace, War Museum, Ben Thanh market, etc., therefore, tourists coming to Ho Chi Minh City will be overwhelmed by the excitement of this city
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