Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica on blue sky background in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
architecture, asia, asian, brick, building, cathedral, catholic, catholicism, chi, christ, christianity, church, city, colonial, culture, dame, famous, french, historical, history, ho, holy, indochina, landmark, mary, minh, monument, notre, praying, religion, religious, saigon, spirituality, symbol, tower, travel, urban, vietnam, vietnamese, virgin, worship

©Efired/Shutterstock

Notre Dame Cathedral

Top choice in Ho Chi Minh City


Built between 1877 and 1883, Notre Dame Cathedral enlivens the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's government quarter, facing Ð Dong Khoi. A red-brick, neo-Romanesque church, it has twin bell towers that are both topped with spires and crosses that reach 60m.

This Catholic cathedral, named after the Virgin Mary, was closed for renovation at the time of research, but when it reopens you'll be able to admire its stained-glass windows and interior walls inlaid with devotional tablets.

 


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ho Chi Minh City attractions

1. Central Post Office

0.08 MILES

The city's landmark French-era post office is a period classic, designed by Marie-Alfred Foulhoux (though often credited to Gustave Eiffel) and built…

2. 22 Ly Tu Trong

0.18 MILES

The ground floor of this innocuous-looking building on Ly Tu Trong is currently occupied by the Vietnam National Chemical Group. Step across the road to…

3. Norodom Palace Gatehouse

0.25 MILES

The only surviving structure from the original Norodom Palace (which was bombed in 1962 and replaced with today's Reunification Palace) is this impressive…

4. People’s Committee Building

0.26 MILES

One of the city’s most prominent landmarks is home to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. Built between 1901 and 1908, the former Hôtel de Ville…

5. HCMC Museum

0.27 MILES

A grand neoclassical structure built in 1885 and once known as Gia Long Palace (and later the Revolutionary Museum), HCMC’s city museum is a singularly…

6. Reunification Palace

0.32 MILES

Surrounded by royal palm trees, the dissonant 1960s architecture of this landmark government building and the eerie ambience of its deserted halls make it…

7. Opera House

0.35 MILES

Gracing the intersection of Ð Dong Khoi and ÐL Le Loi, this grand colonial edifice with a sweeping staircase was built in 1897 and is one of the city's…

8. Saigon Central Mosque

0.43 MILES

Built by South Indian Muslims in 1935 on the site of an earlier mosque, lime-green Saigon Central Mosque is an immaculately clean and well-tended island…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "vietnam/ho-chi-minh-city/attractions/notre-dame-cathedral/a/poi-sig/403218/357884",
      "destination": "Ho-Chi-Minh-City",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Vietnam",
      "city": "Ho-Chi-Minh-City",
      "position": "superzone"
    }