Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Ho Chi Minh City Hall, the former Hotel de Ville of Saigon, is the grand building that closes the northern end of Nguyen Hue Walking Street. Ground was broken in 1898 and the building opened in 1909 after eleven years of work. It was designed by the French architect Fernand Garde in the Beaux-Arts style, with Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo touches, and its facade is decorated with sculpture by Louis-Lucien Ruffier and, in the final years, by Bonnet.

The building is still the seat of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and People's Council and houses several city departments, so for most of the month you can only admire it from outside. That is still well worth doing: the pedestrian square of Nguyen Hue stretches away in front of it, and the facade is lit at night, using a lighting system sponsored by the city of Lyon in 2005.

Since April 2023 the city has opened City Hall to the public on the last weekend of each month. These open days give a rare chance to see the halls and staircases inside. Arrangements can change, and you should expect queues and security checks, so check the latest information locally before you plan your visit around an open day. The building is a national heritage site.

For photographs, come in the late afternoon or after dark, when the walking street fills with people and the building is illuminated. Early morning is quieter and cooler. A visit to the outside takes only a few minutes, but many people linger in the square or sit on the benches along Nguyen Hue.

The building has had many roles since the French colonial era, but its function as the home of city government has given it a continuity that few colonial buildings in Saigon enjoy. Its three addresses, on Le Thanh Ton, Dong Khoi and Pasteur streets, give a sense of how large the site is. Even if you cannot go inside, it is worth walking around the outside to see the facade sculpture in detail, and the building forms a natural backdrop to the view along Nguyen Hue.

City Hall is a short walk from the Opera House and the cafés of the old apartment block at 42 Nguyen Hue. Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office are about ten minutes away on foot along Pasteur or Dong Khoi Street, and Opera House metro station is close by.