Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saigon.

Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, is one of the most representative architectural, cultural and religious works of Ho Chi Minh City. It was built between 1877 and 1880 to a design by the architect J. Bourard, in an adapted Romanesque style combined with Gothic elements. All the building materials, from cement, iron and steel to bricks and screws, were shipped over from France; the facing bricks in particular were made in Toulouse, giving the building its distinctive beauty. The cathedral's predecessor was a wooden church completed in 1865 beside the Kinh Lon canal. As it fell into disrepair, a new church was chosen to be built on the present site. In 1959, a statue of Our Lady of Peace carved from Carrara marble was erected in front of the church, and from then on the name "Notre-Dame Cathedral" became familiar. On 8 December 1959, the church was consecrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception. In 1960, the church became the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saigon. On 13 November 1962, Pope John XXIII raised it to the rank of minor basilica. Over time, this place has been not only an important space for Catholic worship but also a keeper of many marks of the history, culture and spiritual life of Saigon.

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