Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon

In 1877, a very large brick church was to rise in the middle of Saigon. Nearly everything it needed, from cement and steel down to every single screw, had to come by ship from France. It was hard to see how it could be done. Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon found the answer one step at a time.

The first step was a lesson about wood. Saigon already had a church, built on the bank of a canal called Kinh Lớn, where Nguyễn Huệ Street runs today. It had wooden pillars, plank walls and a tiled roof. Only about five years after it was finished, termites had eaten through so much of it that it could no longer be used. Services had to move to the reception hall of the governor's palace. Bishop Isidore Colombert longed for a solid church that would stand for a very long time.

The second step was choosing a design. In August 1876, a design competition opened, and 18 entries came in. The winning plan was by the French architect Bourard, in a modified Romanesque style with Gothic touches. He also oversaw the building work himself.

The third step was choosing the land, and it was as tense as any sporting match. The plot finally chosen sat on high ground in Saigon, in the very heart of the old Gia Định citadel. But many people wanted that fine spot, and some even planned to build a city theater there. So a public drawing of lots was held. The bishop called on his congregation to fast and pray. In the first draw, the Catholic side won, but some people objected. The lots were drawn a second time, and the Catholic side won again. So the land went to the church.

The fourth step was the materials, and this is the part that still amazes people. Almost all of them, from bricks, roof tiles, steel and cement to the stained glass, crossed the sea from France. The facing bricks were made in Toulouse, a city in the south of France. They were left bare, without a single coat of plaster. Even so, the walls keep their warm pink color under the Saigon sun to this day.

The fifth step lies underfoot, where no one can see it. The foundations were designed to carry 10 times the weight of the building above them. The brick walls are 1.2 meters thick. On October 7, 1877, the bishop laid the first stone. Nearly three years later, on April 11, 1880, in the Easter season, the church was consecrated and opened. The whole project cost 2.5 million French francs.

Inside, the vaulted ceiling soars 21 meters high. The interior is divided into three aisles, with room for about 1,200 people at once. Light enters through 56 windows of stained glass. In the sanctuary stands an altar carved from a single block of marble, its top held up by six angels.

When the church first opened, its two bell towers still had no roofs. Only in 1895, 15 years later, was each tower crowned with a pointed zinc spire. Each spire added more than 20 meters to its tower. Measured to the top of the highest cross, the church stands more than 60 meters tall. That is nearly the height of a 20-story building.

Inside the two towers hang six bronze bells, cast in France in 1879. Together the set weighs about 30 tons. The right tower holds four bells and the left tower holds two. Each one rings its own musical note: sol, si, re, mi, la and do. On Christmas Eve, when all six ring together, the sound carries about 10 kilometers.

In front of the church, in the middle of a flower garden on Paris Commune Square, stands the statue of Our Lady of Peace. It is carved from white Carrara marble from Italy. It stands 4.6 meters tall and weighs 5.8 tons. The statue came by sea to Saigon in February 1959. Our Lady stands upright, holding a globe topped with a cross, her eyes raised to the sky as if praying for peace.

There is one detail few people notice. The statue was never polished, because it was carved to be seen from a distance. Rough chisel marks remain to this day, even on the face. The sculptor carved his own name on the hem of the robe, down by the feet. And it is from this statue that the church takes its familiar name: Nhà thờ Đức Bà, the Church of Our Lady.

Since 1960, this has been the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saigon. On November 13, 1962, Pope John the Twenty-Third raised it to the rank of minor basilica.

But time spares no building. After more than 130 years, many bricks had broken, and the zinc roofs on the two spires had corroded and cracked. On July 1, 2017, a major restoration began. The old problem came back in a new form: how to keep the brick church standing firm. This time, workers measured each damaged brick, cut it out with a diamond-bladed saw, and replaced it with a handmade brick from Germany.

The two old crosses had already been taken down. Then came March 19, 2026, the feast of Saint Joseph. At exactly 8 in the morning, a crane slowly lifted the first new cross to a height of 57 meters. Each cross is more than 3.7 meters tall and weighs about 400 kilograms. It is made of steel covered with a very thin layer of gold leaf. The second cross followed, up to the top of the other tower.

So the old problem found its answer: foundations built to bear 10 times the load, bricks that crossed the sea and needed no coat of plaster, and patient hands that replaced them one by one. In the heart of Saigon, the two pink brick towers once again wear two golden crosses, standing quietly under the wide sky.