Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon, Saigon/HoChiMinh City

Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon, Saigon/HoChiMinh City (must see)

This Roman Catholic cathedral constructed by the French colonists is the seat of the Archbishop of Saigon. The red building with two pointed bell towers is a distinctive landmark of Ho Chi Minh City.

The French Bishop Isidore de Colombert laid the foundation stone of the Saigon Notre Dame Basilica in 1877. The building was designed in France and built under the supervision of a well known French engineer named Bourad. It was consecrated on Easter Day, 1880 in the presence of the then Governor of Cochin China, Charles Le Myre de Vilers. The church became a basilica in 1959 after receiving approval from the Vatican.

The Notre Dame Basilica is made from construction material imported directly from France. The bricks were made in Marseilles and the stained glass that once adorned the windows came from Chartres. It has a neo-Romanesque design with three arched façade. The two bell towers are 57.6 meters high and hold six bronze bells. Each tower is topped by a 3.5-meter high cross. In 1959, Bishop Joseph Pham Van Thien of the Saigon parish installed a statue of the Holy Mother in front of the church. In 2005, a story that the statue had shed tears circulated and thousands of visitors came to view the phenomenon. The clergy later denied the occurrence of the incident.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Saigon/HoChiMinh City. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon on Map

Sight Name: Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon
Sight Location: Saigon/HoChiMinh City, Vietnam (See walking tours in Saigon/HoChiMinh City)
Sight Type: Religious
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Saigon/HoChiMinh City, Vietnam

Create Your Own Walk in Saigon/HoChiMinh City

Create Your Own Walk in Saigon/HoChiMinh City

Creating your own self-guided walk in Saigon/HoChiMinh City is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Shopping Tour

Shopping Tour

Among other accolades, Ho Chi Minh City is known as a great shopping destination. Attesting to its reputation are a plethora of street markets scattered throughout the city, selling all sorts of fresh local produce, including coffee beans, and other delights, not to mention street food and souvenirs – all at extremely competitive prices. There are also designated markets specialized in niche...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles
Historical Religious Sites

Historical Religious Sites

For centuries, Vietnamese people have practiced Confucianism and Buddhism brought over from neighboring China. Added to these Eastern teachings, in the 16th century, was Christianity – introduced to Vietnam by Western missionaries. The result of this variety of faiths has become a mixture of gorgeous Confucian and Buddhist temples and Catholic churches in Ho Chi Minh City. Some of these...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.9 Km or 3.7 Miles
Saigon/HoChiMinh City Introduction Walking Tour

Saigon/HoChiMinh City Introduction Walking Tour

While many still refer to the city as Saigon, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in 1976 after the reunification of North and South Vietnam. The name honors the first leader of communist North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh. But many still call the inner business district Saigon, while the larger metropolitan area is known as HCMC.

For most of its early history, this was a scarcely populated area...  view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.9 Km or 3 Miles
Chinatown Walking Tour

Chinatown Walking Tour

The relationship between Vietnam and China traces back over 2,000 years. Over this time, Vietnamese culture, customs, administrative system, and even the language have been heavily influenced by the great northern neighbor. So much so, in fact, that although Vietnam had its own spoken language, until the late 1800s its official written language was Chinese.

Chinatown in Ho Chi Minh City,...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.0 Km or 1.9 Miles