Saigon Central Post Office is one of the most famous and iconic attractions in Ho Chi Minh City. With its unique structure and remnant of the city’s past, this is a perfect place for people who want to enjoy the beautiful design, mail a postcard, write a letter by hand, or simply recall the memory of a bygone era.
The history of this building started when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the late 19th century. On January 13th, 1863, the post office was first opened to the locals, and the post office issued its first stamp. Gustave Eiffel is the person who designed the first version. In 1864, Saigon Central Post Office began to be more famous in the Southern areas. From 1886 to 1891, the building was rebuilt by French architect Villedieu, and that is the Saigon Post Office we see today.
The structure of the building is a combination of Western and Asian building styles. When coming to the main entrance, there is a giant clock hanging above the gate with the years of construction “1886 1891” below.
Between the old green windows, there are names of French inventors who are devoted to telegram and electricity.
Outside the church, you will see rows of arched windows, a large clock above the main entrance, and the Vietnamese flag – fluttering.
On the outside, the front of the building is decorated with rectangular cells, where the inventors of the telegraph and electricity are registered.
You will see the curved ceiling that runs along the length of the spacious main vault inside the church. While the window of the building’s side blocks is arched, the windows of the middle block are rectangular. Because of the high ceiling, the contours, lines, and patterns were designed parallelly to create a balanced whole for the post office’s architecture.
