Saigon

Saigon

Exploring Chợ Quán Asylum, Saigon’s Oldest Prisoner-of-War Camp

In a secluded corner of Saigon’s Bệnh viện Nhiệt đới, or Hospital for Tropical Diseases, a prison continues its century-long existence hidden from public memory and discourse.

Saigon

An Early View of a Barely Developed Saigon in the 1860s

Dropping a modern Saigoneer into the 1860s version of the city would be a wildly disorienting experience.

Saigon

From D4's Village Past to Now, History Keeps Wanting to Widen Nguyễn Tất Thành Street

A century before today's bulldozers, colonial planners were already wrestling with the same congested waterfront corridor — and the same promises of transformation.

Saigon

How Nhà Thờ Đức Bà Narrowly Escaped Being the 'Leaning Cathedral of Saigon'

Soon after its completion, Saigon’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral developed an embarrassing tilt.

Saigon

How Bách Tùng Diệp Became a Saigon Park From Earmarked Consulate Land

In 1927, after being abandoned for more than 60 years by its Spanish owners, the “Jardin d’Espagne” — known today as Bách Tùng Diệp or Lý Tự Trọng Park — seemed set to become the new home of the British Consulate General in Saigon… but it was not to be.

Saigon

The History of Saigon General Hospital, the Clinic Funded by a Doctor's Generosity

The Saigon Hospital at 125 Lê Lợi was originally built in the late 1930s as the Polyclinique Dejean de la Bâtie. The French named it after French doctor Théodose Déjean de la Bâtie, who devoted his life to treating members of the Vietnamese community.

Saigon

From WWI Monument to Ancestor Temple: The Story of Saigon's Hùng King Temple

The Hùng King Temple at 2 Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm was originally built in 1927–1929 under the name Temple du Souvenir Annamite (Annamite Temple of remembrance), primarily to honor the memory of Vietnamese soldiers who died while fighting in World War I.