Ho Chi Minh City - Architecture Gems Part 1

Being a city which has just been opened to the outside world not very long ago, HCMC does not have many notable modern buildings. However, owing to it's French colonial history, there are a number of beautiful historical buildings.

One of the most beautiful is the Notre Dame Cathedral which is right in the middle of the city. Built in 1880 by the French Governor at the time, it was designed in the French Romanesque style, mixed with a bit of Gothic style on the roof design.

As a testament to the importance of letters in the days before telecommunications and emails, old post offices of major cities tend to be very grand structures. The Central Post Office of HCMC is a beautiful structure built by no less then Gustave Eiffel, the genius behind the Eiffel Tower. Very grand from the outside, the main hall inside is even more impressive.

The HCMC City Hall was built in 1908 in the French Baroque style. It would have looked perfectly fitting in the middle of Paris. This building is being used by the government and is not open to the public.

The HCMC Opera House is another French Colonial building built in the French Baroque style. 

This is the view from the Opera House back towards the city centre.