Recently, the Business Insider news site voted Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral as one of the 19 most beautiful cathedrals in the world. Also on the list are other famous churches in the world such as: St. John the Divine Cathedral (USA), Milan Cathedral in Milan (Italy); Saint Sebastian Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa (Canada); Dormitory Church in Moscow (Russia)... Among these, there are many churches that were built centuries ago, when there were not many modern machines and the construction took decades, even hundreds of years to complete.
Business Insider commented that Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral was modeled after Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the result of a design competition in August 1876 and architect J. Bourard won the bid for this project.
Construction of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral began on October 7, 1877 and took two and a half years to complete. Initially, it was called the State Cathedral because the entire construction cost of 2,500,000 francs was provided by France. In 1959, the place was renamed Notre Dame Cathedral, and the square in front was called Our Lady of Peace Square.
Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral was built in Romanesque style, 93 m long, 35 m wide, 57.3 m high. Most of the materials, especially red bricks and tiles, were transported from France. The foundation of the cathedral was specially designed to withstand a load 10 times greater than the entire structure of the church above. The church also did not have a fence or surrounding wall like other churches around the Saigon - Gia Dinh area at that time.
When first completed, the two bell towers of the church were about 37 meters high, but in 1895, a steel spire was added, increasing the height to 60 meters and weighing nearly 30 kg. The interior of this large and unique architectural work is covered in gold and marble, very aesthetically. Above the attic corridor in the church is a series of multi-colored glass windows made by the Lorin de Chartres workshop in France.
From the bell tower, visitors can see the square with the statue of Our Lady of Peace in the center. The statue is 4.6 m high, weighs 5.8 tons, and is made of Italian white Carrara marble. It was carved without polishing, and the entire body, including the face, still has rough carving marks.
According to a representative of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, the project is currently being restored and will last for many more years, at least until the end of 2025, because renovating, repairing, and upgrading a 140-year-old ancient building like Notre Dame Cathedral is a difficult and extremely complicated job, so it takes much longer than expected.
Going through nearly 2 centuries with many ups and downs, Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral has become a symbol and one of the must-see destinations for domestic and international tourists when coming to Ho Chi Minh City.
