Former City Hall (Hôtel de Ville)

In front of you is the former Hôtel de Ville of Saigon, now home to the People's Council and People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; in other words, the city government.

1A building on a canal

The French wanted to build a city hall here as early as 1870, at the end of a large canal, the Kinh Lớn, but the ground was so muddy that the plan was dropped. The canal was filled in in 1887 and became Boulevard Charner, today's Nguyễn Huệ. Work finally began in 1898 and was completed in 1909. The architect Fernand Gardès took his inspiration from the Hôtel de Ville in Paris and the belfries of northern France, and covered the façade with garlands, columns and allegorical figures of the Republic.

2Three names, one façade

The people of Saigon called it Dinh xã Tây, the “French municipal palace”. Under the Republic of Vietnam it was Saigon's mayoral hall, and since 1975 it has housed the municipal government. It rarely opens to the public: it did so for the first time on 29 and 30 April 2023. The statue of Hồ Chí Minh in front was unveiled in 2015 and now presides over the pedestrian square.

Someone once described it as “a woman wearing too much jewellery”.

3What to look for

• The three figures of Marianne on the pediments, symbol of the French Republic.
• The clock tower, with the flagpole at the top.
• The statue of Hồ Chí Minh, from 2015.