The Historic The Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City

The Independence Palace

The Independence Palace is an important building in Ho Chi Minh City which  was declared a National Site in 1976, then a Special National Site in 2009. Today the building is a museum which was first opened to the public in 1990 and has been the scene of may of the most important events in Vietnam's history. I was fortunate to tour through the Independence Palace on my recent visit to Vietnam.

Today's palace occupies the site of the former residence of the French colonial Governors residence, the Norodom Palace, constructed between 1868 and 1873 and designed by Achille-Antoine Hermite. He was the first Beaux Arts-trained architect to work in Indochina. The grand colonial structure came with a price tag of 12.5 million francs.

As Vietnam was split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, the building served as presidential home and workplace.

Cabinet Room- The Independence Palace

Following the 1954 Geneva Accords, the old structure was renamed the Independence Palace. It became the residence of the first President of the new Saigon Republic Ngo Dinh Diem.

After an attempted coup bomb attack on 27 February 1962 where two Vietnamese rebel pilots bombed the palace and destroyed the entire left wing of the palace, President Diem    ordered its demolition and commissioned the celebrated Vietnamese architect Ngo Viet Thu to design a completely new structure.

Conference Hall - The Independence Palace

Ngo Viet Thu was the first Vietnamese recipient of the Grand Prix de Rome, which he won in 1955, and the first Asian architect to become an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. When designing the building Ngo Viet Thu fused both modern architecture and its traditional Asian variety. He incorporated auspicious Chinese characters into the building’s layout and design. The Palace’s architecture is a blend of traditional cultual and modern architecture, typical of the 60s’. The palace’s shape reflects different characters when viewed from different angles. Some represent good luck, prosperity, king, master, sovereignty, centre, symbolising a leader’s responsibilities, three representing the three tenets of humanity, wisdom and boldness; and  mouth, symbolizing high standards of education and freedom of speech.

Ambassador's Chamber - The Independence Palace

The project started in July 1962 and took 4 years to complete. This made the President change his office temporarily to Gia Long Palace, which is now the location of Ho Chi Minh City Museum. There was a six-month suspension of work following Ngo Dinh Diem's assassination in 1963. Thus Diem never lived to see the completion of the palace. His successor Nguyen Van Thieu assumed the presidency in October 1967 and occupied the palace until his abdication on 21 April 1975, when he was replaced by his Vice president Tran Van Huong, and then a week later by General Durong Van Minh.

The new structure faced bombing raids but it remained relatively intact.  On the morning of April 30, 1975 at 11.30am, tanks crashed through the gates of the palace. Liberation Forces entered the palace grounds and National Liberation Front Lieutenant Bui Quang Than climbed to the rooftop to plant an NLF flag of liberation in place of the South Vietnamese emblem. The war officially ended and Vietnam became one country.

On my tour of the Independence Palace was shown around the president's former office, his families private quarters, the formal reception rooms, the cinema, dance floor, and catering kitchen. Seeing the War Command Room with its huge maps and old communication equipment I got a real sense of what happened here and its importance in Vietnamese history. Wandering around its rooms I was reminded of various important moments in the past of Vietnam, as well as the basement labyrinth.

On view is the F5E fighter plane which bombed the palace in April 1975 and replicas of  tank 843 which led the final assault through the palace gate in April 1975.

Front lawn and fountain - The Independence Palace

Visitor information
The Reunification Palace is open Every day of the week from 7.30 AM to 11.30AM and 1.00PM to 5.00 PM. Entrance ticket is VND 20,000 (about $1). Guided tours in English are also available. Getting there is extremely easy by taxi, motorbike or walking, as the palace is so well-known and right in the center oh Ho Chi Minh City. A souvenir shop is located in the basement.

Location
135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. It is right at one end of Le Duan Street. It borders other 3 streets: Huyen Tran Cong Chua Street in the back, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street on the right and Nguyen Du on the left.