St Joseph's Cathedral (Nhà thờ Lớn)

In front of you is St Joseph's Cathedral, the Nhà thờ Lớn or "big church". Its grey towers recall Notre-Dame de Paris, but beneath its foundations lies a much older story.

1The pagoda of Heavenly Gratitude

This was the site of Báo Thiên Pagoda, founded under the Lý dynasty. In 1057 a twelve-storey tower with a bronze spire was raised here, counted among the "four great treasures" of Annam, together with a bell, a tripod cauldron and a huge Buddha statue. None of the four has survived.

Nobody knows for sure how the tower fell: some chronicles speak of storms and lightning, others of the Ming occupiers, said to have melted its bronze down for weapons.

When the French occupied Hanoi, Bishop Paul-François Puginier obtained the land, where remains of the pagoda still stood. Work began in 1884 and the cathedral was consecrated on Christmas Eve 1886. It is the oldest church in the city.

2A well in the courtyard

Of the Buddhist temple, little more than a stone well survives. For years it sat in an alley off Nhà Chung Street, until in 2002 it was filled in with earth. After complaints in the press, the parish recovered it and moved it into the cathedral grounds, beside the grotto.

After 1954 the cathedral went through difficult decades and did not hold Christmas Eve Mass again until 1990. Today, at the big services, the faithful spill out into the square.

3What to look for

• The two square towers, about 31 metres high, their stone stained by the climate.
• The rose window on the façade, between the towers.
• The statue of the Virgin in the middle of the square.