Independence Palace

The Independence Palace is the very place that marks the complete victory of the resistance war against the United States for national salvation, the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country in 1975.

The Independence Palace (Reunification Hall) is one of the most important historical witnesses of Ho Chi Minh City. Standing on the site of the Norodom Palace built in the French colonial era, the present building was designed by the architect Ngo Viet Thu, begun in 1962 and completed in 1966, marking a shift from colonial architecture to a modern work with a Vietnamese identity. Across successive periods it served as the residence of the Governor of Cochinchina, the seat of the Governor-General of Indochina, the presidential palace and the nerve centre of the government of the Republic of Vietnam. It is also one of the outstanding works of twentieth-century Vietnamese modern architecture, notable for the way it joins modern architectural thinking with Eastern philosophy. The plan of the palace is laid out in the form of the character Cat (吉), together with a system of symbols drawn from the characters Vuong, Khau and Tam and details known as “stone flower curtains” inspired by traditional architecture, which create an aesthetic signature while adapting the building to the tropical climate. Above all, at 11 o'clock in the morning on 30 April 1975, two tanks numbered 843 and 390 of the 203rd Brigade, 2nd Corps of the Liberation Army crashed through the gates of the Independence Palace. The General Staff of the Saigon administration - General Duong Van Minh - surrendered unconditionally. The red flag with the gold star flew over the roof of the Independence Palace. The Ho Chi Minh Campaign had triumphed completely, and the country was fully reunified. In 2009 the site was classified as a Special National Monument, becoming a place where history, architecture and the memory of the nation meet. Price: Adults 40,000 VND / school and university students 20,000 VND / children under 6 free (from 01/08/2025, worth checking again)

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.