Historical story

Establishedby French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of over 58 meters (190feet). Following the French conquest of Cochinchina and Saigon, theRoman Catholic Church established a community and religious servicesfor French colonialists.

The first church was built on Rue 5 (today's Ngo DucKe Street). This had been a Vietnamese pagoda, which had been abandonedduring the war. Bishop Lefevre decided to make this pagoda a church. In1959, Bishop Joseph Pham Van Thien, whose jurisdiction included Saigonparish, attended Holy Mother Congress held in Vatican and ordered aPeaceful Notre Dame statue made with granite in Rome. When the statuearrived in Saigon, on February 16^th, 1959, Bishop Pham VanThien held a ceremony to install the statue on the empty base andpresented the title of "Regina Pacis". It was Bishop Pham Van Thien whowrote the prayers "Notre-Dame bless the peace to Vietnam". On thefollowing day, Cardinal Aganianian came from Rome to chair the closingceremony of the Holy Mother Congress and solemnly chaired the ceremonyfor the statue, thus the cathedral was then-on called Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Honored Basilica Status

Thecathedral boasts its honored status as a Basilica consecrated tens ofyears ago. In 1960, the Vatican founded a Roman Catholic dioceses inVietnam and assigned archbishops to Hanoi, Huế and Saigon. Notre-Damecathedral was titled Saigon Chief Cathedral. Yet, in1962, Vatican anointed the Saigon Chief Cathedral, conferred itbasilique in honor of the tri-cenetary of the Bishopric of Saigon.Since then, this cathedral was called Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica,which has enhanced its value and absorbed hundreds of thousands ofcatholics as well as international tourists to pay a visit.

The special architectural style

Apartfrom the religious meaning that attracts tourists, the even morespecial captivating point of Notre-Dame Cathedral is its specialneo-Romanesque style of architecture. During its construction, all itsred bricks were imported from Marseilles and colored glass windows madein France’s Chartres Province, France. Tiles have been carved with thewords Guichard Carvin, Marseille St André France (perhapsstating the locality where the tiles were produced). Some tiles werecarved with the words “Wang-Tai Saigon.” Many tiles have since beenmade in Saigon to replace the broken tiles caused by war. There are 56glass squares supplied by the Lorin firm of Chartres province inFrance. The cathedral foundation was designed to bear 10 times theweight of the cathedral. In front of the cathedral is a statue of theVirgin Mary. On a whole, the neo-Romanesque architecture and two58m-high square towers tipped with iron spires dominate the city’s skyline, creating a beautiful religious site!

Weekly Service Schedule

Fullservices in both Vietnamese and English are held every Sunday morningand are well attended by Vietnamese and foreigners alike. Otherservices are held throughout the week. Hence, visitors who wish toattend mass should go on Sunday at 9.30a.m.