Introduction: Catalogue, Location, Use and History of French Colonial Buildings in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

1. Introduction

The old name of Ho Chi Minh City is Saigon. Saigon was ‘conquered’ by French in 1859 and until 1954, the city was planned and built by French colonial administration. Some of the colonial buildings survived while some others dissappeared. This thesis provides a catalogue of the colonial buildings based on historical information, Google Earth and site visits.

The Historical Background of Saigon as a French Colonial City

Before the arrival of French colonial army, Saigon was a walled citadel (Gia Dinh Citadel) built in accordance with Vietnamese feudal architecture as still evidenced in Hue City. French colonial army destroyed the walls of the citadel by dynamite, when it attacked the city. Capture of Saigon was the start of French colonial expansion in South Vietnam which was called as ‘Cochinchina’ under colonial government. The commanders of the French colonial army was Admiral Charner, Colonel Palanca, and later on, Rear Admiral Bonard. In 1862, Hue Court of Vietnam and France (represented by Bonard) signed a treaty (Nham Tuat Treaty), officially handing over Gia Dinh (Saigon) and some other localities to French. Thus urban planning of Saigon officially started in 1862 and rapidly gave its fruits as “army barracks, shipyard, hospital, cemeteries, ports, the Governor’s palace, the court, post offices, telegram stations, treasury house, schools, printing house, merchant firms, roads and bridges, water-wells, the zoo, gardens, etc...” (Nguyen, 1998, p.83). 

In 1861, Charner ordered army workers to build a city for 500,000 people. The project was prepared by Colonel Coffyn, lieutenant-commander of engineering. Colonel Coffyn explains that Charner wants him to plan the city by the following boundaries: Chinese Arroyo (Ben Nghe Canal), Avalanche Arroyo (Thi Nghe Canal), the Saigon River itself, and “a line joining from Cay Mai Pagoda to former defensive stronghold Chi Hoa” (Nguyen, 1998, p.84). The area comprised nearly 2,500 hectars. Thu Thiem, District 4 and District 8 areas were considered as future suburbs to be opened to construction as factory and workshop area. The land was divided into 4 classes following the model of Algeria and Singapore. These were:

“First category: Small trading firms on the harbour (...)

Second category: Big trading firms in the harbour (...)

Third category: Houses in the city (...)

Fourth category: Houses in the suburb (...)” (Nguyen, 1998, p.85).

In Coffyn’s plan, the to-be-built city was divided into administrative area and commercial-industrial area (business area). The former was planned to be nearly 200 hectares of area to extend from the East of Imperial Street (currently Hai Ba Trung) to Thi Nghe Canal. The area would host “the Governor’s palace, some administrative offices, barracks and army headquarters, military hospital, military engineering workshops, shipyard etc” (Nguyen, 1998, p.86). The rest of the area extending towards Cho Lon which is nearly 2,300 hectares would be “used as the city of businesses, and in addition also includes civil buildings and administrative headquarters of Saigon City” (Nguyen, 1998, p.86). For defence of the city military installments were stationed at the intersection of Saigon River and Ben Nghe Canal; and that of Saigon River and Thi Nghe Canal. According to Coffyn’s project plan, 896 land plots of Saigon were sold in the first phase of the project (Nguyen, 1998). They were sold to French at very low prices. Coffyn’s project plan led to mostly forced evacuation of Vietnamese residents, as the project site was already full of residential areas as well as collectively owned villages. By 11 April 1861 decree of Admiral Charner, Vietnamese were forced out of the city area drawn by Coffyn’s plan (Nguyen, 1998). By 1865, there were 70 shops registered in Saigon. 65 of them were owned by Europeans, 5 of them were owned by Chinese. No Vietnamese were recorded as an owner of a shop at that time (Nguyen, 1998). 

The initial Saigon city plan for 500,000 people was considered to be unrealistic and ambitious, as 500,000 was by-then a huge figure and funding for those large infrastructure projects was scarce (Nguyen, 1998). The city population was estimated to be 65,000-75,000 in 1878 (Nguyen, 1998).

By 1865, Saigon was covering the administrative area of 200 hectares only. In the same year, the boundaries of Saigon were extended  to cover 447 hectares. By 1894, the boundaries of Saigon were extended to cover 791 hectares, while in 1906 the area between Cholon (currently District 5) and Saigon was incorporated to Saigon and the area of Saigon increased to 1,317 hectares. In 1907, Saigon boundaries were extended to cover 1,764 hectares. In 1931, Saigon and Cholon were merged to form ‘region de Saigon-Cholon’. The region comprised 5,100 hectares in total with a population of 256,000. The area was twice the area originally planned by Coffyn, but the population was half the original figure (Nguyen, 1998). That means the population density was ¼ of the original plan. As of 2011, Ho Chi Minh City covers a huge area of 209,500 hectares. That means currently Ho Chi Minh City covers an area 40 times larger than its area in 1931, and an area 1,000 times larger than its original area in 1865. 40 times expansion in 80 years is enormous. Population growth is similarly spectacular. After French occupation of Saigon, many Vietnamese fled. As a result, the population of Saigon area was 6,000-7,000 in 1861-1862; nearly 10,000 in 1864; nearly 11,000 in 1866;13,500 in 1881 and 1884; nearly 37,600 in 1895; 33,400 in 1897; 56,500 in 1900; 47,600 in 1903; 54,750 in 1905; 57,750 in 1908. In 1943, the population of Saigon-Cholon area was 498,000.

The first French colonial street built in Saigon was Rue Catinat (currently Dong Khoi) which was constructed on a Vietnamese street extending from Saigon River to the citadel. Secondly, parallel to Rue Catinat, Boulevard Charner (currently, Nguyen Hue) was built which had a canal until it was filled later on. At the square in the intersection of Rue D’Espagne (currently Le Thanh Ton), a granite statue of De la Gree was installed (Nguyen, 1998). De la Gree was the commander heading the Mekong expedition. Thirdly, the other parallel street of Rue Catinat which was then called as ‘the National Street’ (currently Hai Ba Trung) was built. This street was 20 kilometre long. In the square where 5 streets meet at the riverbank (currently Me Linh Square), a monument was raised (currently, the statue of Tran Hung Dao stands here). Parallel to ‘the National Street’ is the Hospital Street (currently, Thai Van Lung) which ends up at Hopital Grall (currently, Children Hospital 2) on Rue D’Espagne (curently, Le Thanh Ton). Parallel to ‘the National Street’ was ‘the Citadel Street’ (later, Boulevard Luro and currently a part of Ton Duc Thang). ‘the Citadel Street’ extends from Saigon River to Avalanche Arroyo (Thi Nghe) (Nguyen, 1998).

Nguyen (1998) provides the following table to clarify the street names of the first years of French colonization of Saigon:

Table 1. Oldest Names of Saigon Streets

Old name (French Name before 1865 -ubg)	New Name (by 1865 Decree)	Current Name
Dong Nai Quay	Napoleon Quay	Ton Duc Thang
No 1	Lefebvre	Nguyen Cong Tru
No 3	Dayot	Nguyen Thai Binh
No 5	Vannier	Ngo Duc Ke
No 7	Hamelin	Le Thi Hong Gam
No 12	Hopital	Don Dat
No 13	Bonard	Le Loi
No 14	Imperiale	Hai Ba Trung
No 15	Palanca (southern part)	Le Thanh Ton
No 15	Isabelle II (middle part)	Le Thanh Ton
No 15	Sainte-Enfance (northern part)	Le Thanh Ton
No 16	Catinat	Dong Khoi
No 17	Gouverneur	Ly Tu Trong
No 18	Rigault de Genouilly (left bank)	Nguyen Hue
No 18	Charner (right bank)	Nguyen Hue
No 20	Adran	Ho Tung Mau
No 21	Thabert	Nguyen Du
No 24	Olivier (right bank)	Nam Ky Khoi Nghia
No 24	Pellerin (left bank)	Nam Ky Khoi Nghia
No 25	Chasseloup-Laubat	Nguyen Thi Minh Khai

Source: Nguyen, 1998, p.105-106.

According to Saigon 1867 map, the following public buildings were present:   

“- Governor’s Palace

- Chief of Staff

- Palace of Director of Interior

- Bishop’s House

- Cathedral

- Court

- Municipality

- Treasury and Post Office

- Telegram Station

- Road & Bridge Service

- Military Maneuver Camp

- Infantry Camp of ‘Truong Thi’

- Artillery

- Military Engineering

- Military Hospital

- Gendarme Service

- Municipal Military Office

-  Inspection Agency

- Commander of Army

- Floating Berth

- Printing House

- Prison

- Coal Warehouse

- Direction of Commercial Port

- Direction of Military Port

- Army Food Warehouse

- General Warehouse

- Waterways Service

- Warfare Council

- Market

- Police Stations

- Local Affairs Inspector’s Service

- Cavalry

- Shipyard (Ba Son)” (Nguyen, 1998, p.124).

In addition, some other buildings such as “dragons-house (Messageries Maritimes), slaughter-house, seminary, Saint Paul de Chartres convent, ammunition warehouse, store houses, and trade firms, etc” were present in 1867 (Nguyen, 1998). However, some of these buildings were built for temporary use, as in the example of governor’s palace which was wooden (Nguyen, 1998). 

The firsts of urban Saigon was nearly aligned with European cities: The botanical garden was set up in 1863; the street lights started in 1867 which were initially lit by coconut oil, and later on used together with gasoline; street trees were planted in 1870 (which mostly survived as very tall trees on the roadsides); pavements were constructed and water tower was built in 1873; the rule of numbering the houses was applied by 1879; railway construction started in 1882; tramway started in 1888; electricity was first used in 1900; the first automobile arrived to Saigon in 1903; first use of asphalt in Saigon was in 1905; pipeline for cleanwater was installed in 1907; sewage system started in 1908; the first power station started to operate in 1909; the first airplane arrived to Saigon in 1910; the steam trams were replaced with electric trams in 1912; 1914 was the starting date of the construction of Tan Son Nhat Airport; the city bus service started in 1915 (Nguyen, 1998). Saigon was called as ‘the Pearl of the Far East’ by 1930. The following buildings were present in 1930 at Saigon:

“1. Navy Workshop (Ba Son)

 2. Indochina General Governor’s Palace

3. Library

4. Railway Service Office

5. Indochina Bank

6. Hong Kong – Shanghai Bank

7. Financial Inspection Agency

8. Cadastre, Maps, and Laboratory

9. Agriculture Office

10. Central Police

11. District 1 Police

12. District 2 Police

13. District 3 Police

14. The Cathedral

15. Casino Movie Theater

16. Europeans’ Cemetery

17. Local Cemetery

18. Carmelitans’ Convent

19. Angier Sanatorium

20. Headquarters of Five-Star Firm (Chargeurs Reunis)

21. Sports Club (Football)

22. Military Court

23. Military Club

24. Chamber of Commerce

25. Colonial Infantry Camp

26. Francis Garnier Camp

27. O Ma Camp (Camp de Mares, Nguyen Trai-Cong Quynh)

28. Customs House and Public Management

29. Education Management

30. Registry and Property

31. Pedagogy School

32. All-Girl College (Marie-Curie)

33. Kindergarten

34. Vietnam All-Girl School (Nguyen Thi Minh Khai)

35. Engineering School (Cao Thang)

36. Applied Technology School

37. Tan Dinh Church

38. Cho Dui Church

39. Cau Kho Church

40. Khanh Hoi Church

41. Xom Chieu Church

42. Eden Movie Theater

43. Bisophry

44. General Staff

45. Gendarme Service

46. Municipality

47. General’s Palace

48. Don Dat Hospital (Grall, Children’s Hospital II now)

49. Maritime Registration

50. Measurement House (Identity Office)

51. Migration Office

52. Taberd School

53. Pasteur Institute

54. Conciliation Court” (Nguyen, pp.129-131).

French colonial architecture in Saigon covers the period from 1859 to 1930. It is characterized by “Parisian neo-classical style” until 1920. Many public buildings were constructed based on Parisian buildings of the era. In 1920s, a hybrid architecture emerged which blended French architecture with Indochinese vernacular architecture by the direction of “Ernest Hébrard, who in 1923 was appointed head of the Indochina Architecture and Town Planning Service (Service de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme de l'Indochine)” (Cultural Profiles website, 2011). The chief examples of this style in Saigon among a few buildings of this blend are “Deleval's Musée Blanchard de la Brosse (1929, now the Việt Nam History Museum, Hồ Chí Minh City) and Dumail's Banque Nationale du Vietnam (1930)” (Cultural Profiles website, 2011). Art deco became influential by the late 1920s although it was not very influential (Cultural Profiles website, 2011).

Based on various maps of colonial Saigon, the following streets and boulevards appear to be significant (the current names are in parantheses) :

1. Rue Catinat (Dong Khoi)

2. Boulevard Charner (Nguyen Hue)

3. Boulevard Norodom (Le Duan)

4. Rue Chasseloup Laubat (Nguyen Thi Minh Khai)

5. Boulevard Bonnard (Le Loi)

6. Rue Paul Blanchy (Hai Ba Trung)

7. Boulevard Luro (a part of Ton Duc Thang)

8. Boulevard Albert 1er (Dinh Tien Hoang)

9. Boulevard de la Somme (Ham Nghi)

10. Boulevard Gallieni (Tran Hung Dao)

11. Rue D’Espagne (later, Le Loi (in French); currently, Le Thanh Ton)

12. Rue de la Grandiere (Ly Tu Trong)

13. Rue Palanca (Nguyen Trung Ngan)

14. Rue Lucien Mossard (a part of Nguyen Du)

15. Rue Taberd (Nguyen Du)

16. Rue du Colonel Grimaud (Pham Ngu Lao)

17. Rue du Colonel Boudonnet (Le Lai)

18. Rue Frere Louis (Nguyen Trai)

19. Rue Richaud (Nguyen Dinh Chieu)

20. Rue Legrand de la Liraye (Dien Bien Phu)

21. Rue Mayer (Vo Thi Sau)

22. Rue de Nancy (Nguyen Van Cu)

23. Quai de Belgique (Ben Chuong Duong)

24. Quai le Myre de Villers (a part of Ton Duc Thang)

25. Quai de l’Argonne (a part of Ton Duc Thang)

26. Lord Kitchener (Nguyen Thai Hoc)

27. Rue Verdun (after World War II, Rue President Van Thinh; currently: Cach Mang Thang Tam, August Revolution)

28. Rue Testard (Vo Van Tan Street)

29. Rue Eyriaud des Vergnes (Tran Quoc Thao Street)

30. Rue Rousseau (Later, Docteur Angier; and currently, Nguyen Binh Khiem)

31. Rue Pasteur (Thai Van Lung)

32. Rue Pellerin (Pasteur)

33. Rue Mac Mahon (later, Rue General de Gaulle; and currently Nam Ky Khoi Nghia)

34. Rue d’Alsace-Lorraine (Pho Duc Chinh)

35. Rue Bourdais (Calmette)

36. Rue Marchaise (Ky Con)

37. Rue Boresse (Yersin)

38. Rue Garcerie (Pham Ngoc Thach)

39. Rue Barbet (Le Quy Don)

40. Rue Thenevet (Tu Xuong)

In this study, these streets and some other small streets have been checked to see whether French colonial buildings have survived and in which condition and which function, if they did. The researcher visited the streets and compared the current conditions with the information available in old Saigon maps and other historical materials.

Source: Gezgin,  U.B.  (2011/2017).  Catalogue,  Location,  Use  and  History  of  French  Colonial 

Buildings in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). 

CATALOGUE, LOCATION, USE AND HISTORY OF FRENCH COLONIAL BUILDINGS IN HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON) Ulaş Başar Gezgin Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................................ 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 2. The Streets of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City..................................................................................... 3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................... References........................................................................................................................................