In front of you is Chợ Bến Thành, Ben Thanh Market. For many people the clock tower over its south gate is the unofficial symbol of the city.

1A name that comes from the river

The name means “citadel wharf”. The first market stood on the riverbank, next to the landing stage used to enter the Vietnamese citadel of Gia Định. The French rebuilt it after the conquest of 1859, but by around 1911 the old building was close to collapse, and it was decided to move it here, to marshy ground that was filled in for the purpose. The firm Brossard et Mopin built it between 1912 and March 1914, with a fire-resistant metal frame.

2Three days of celebration

According to the press of the day, the opening, from 28 to 30 March 1914, drew more than a hundred thousand people, with fireworks and floats. For decades locals simply called it the “new market”, to tell it apart from the old one. Its last major refurbishment was in 1985. Today it has around 1,500 stalls: clothes and fabrics to the south, prepared food and fruit to the north, coffee, spices and fish sauce to the east. As evening falls, a night market sets up in the side streets.

3What to look for

  • The clock on the south tower.
  • The ceramic reliefs above the gates, made in 1952 in the Biên Hòa workshops: over the south gate, an ox head and a carp.
  • Bến Thành station on the first metro line, opened in December 2024, just opposite.
Old photograph of Ben Thanh Market in the 1920s, with its clock tower
Saigon's “great market” in the 1920s.

Documented

The construction between 1912 and 1914, the opening in March 1914 and the 1985 refurbishment are recorded in municipal history.

Sources and credits

Ben Thanh Market Management Board; Tim Doling, Exploring Ho Chi Minh City (Thế Giới, 2014); Vietnamese Wikipedia, “Chợ Bến Thành”.

Photos:

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