Cycling Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam By Bike, you will understand more about the differences of Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City. Stop Over the Vietnam Historic Museum which is recognized the first museum in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City History Museum is 90 years old, built by the French, with Asian and Western architecture. History Museum of Ho Chi Minh City (Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, District 1) was built in 1929, originally named Blanchard de la Brosse after the Governor of Cochinchina at that time.
This is the first museum in Saigon and the whole of South Vietnam. In 1954, when the French withdrew, the work was renamed to the National Museum and the current name after 1975. The museum area is 6,000 m2, with the main view facing the Zoo and Botanical Garden, opposite to the Hung King memorial temple.
The project was designed and built by French architect Delaval in a style that combines European and indigenous architecture, exploiting traditional elements and local climate characteristics. This style flourished in Vietnam during 1920-1945.
The architectural highlight is the octagonal floor block in the center, which is also the symmetry axis for the two rows of houses on both sides. The octagonal floor carries the concept of the eight trigrams in the I Ching.
At the top of the octagonal floor are 4 small spheres gradually placed on top of each other. On each side of the tile block, there are dragon stylized blades.
The roof of the museum is roofed with pipe tiles and removed from the wall by the console beam system. The roof of the museum features Asian architecture and Western construction techniques.
In 1970, the museum built an additional U-shaped row behind, in the middle is a small lake. The extra houses are decorated with dragon heads in the corners, in harmony with the original architecture of the building.
The decorative architecture inside and outside the museum uses many motifs, patterns ... with traditional Western alternating influences. Inside the museum is an area of 3,000 m2, divided into several rooms with 18 display spaces. The rooms are connected to each other in the main lobby at the central location.
This is one of the large-scale museums in the South with more than 40,000 artifacts from many countries and ethnic groups. The museum's display system consists of two main parts. The first part displays artifacts of Vietnamese history from prehistory to the end of the Nguyen Dynasty. The remainder is the cultural theme of southern Vietnam and some Asian countries.
The Champa cultural display area with many stone statues of deities, real life, war elephants ... Artifacts of China, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand ... are also introduced in the museum. Ho Chi Minh City History Museum is often organized by caravans to bring tourists to visit when coming to Saigon. The museum operates all week, the ticket price is 30,000 VND per person.
