Cửa Bắc Church ("Northern Gate Church", , ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Originally named as ''Church of Our Lady of the Martyrs'' (), the church was built in 1931 by the French administration of

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as a part of the Hanoi's urban plan supervised by Ernest Hébrard. Today, Cửa Bắc Church is one of the three major churches of Hanoi, together with Hàm Long Church and Saint Joseph Cathedral. In November 2006, Cửa Bắc Church became the venue of a joint worship service of Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants with the participation of

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president

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, who was on an official visit to Vietnam.

History

In the early 1920s, the French architect Ernest Hébrard began his urban plan to redesign the city of Hanoi, as a part of this plan, a new Roman Catholic church named Church of Martyrs () was built in front of the Northern Gate (Cửa Bắc) of the ancient Hanoi Citadel in 1932. Because of its location, the church was more commonly known as Cửa Bắc Church. Ernest Hébrard designed Cửa Bắc Church in eclectic style with strong influence of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

decoration. He also integrated in the church some elements of traditional architecture in Vietnam such as the system of

roof tiles Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

and the harmony between the main architecture with its surrounding green space. For that reason, Cửa Bắc Church is considered a fine example for the mixed style between European and Vietnamese architectures. Originally planned to be named ''Vietnamese Martyrs'', the title of the church was changed to ''Queen of Martyrs'' because at that time, the Vietnamese Martyrs was not yet canonized. In 1959, the Apostolic Vicar Joseph-Marie Trịnh Như Khuê re-titled it as the Church of ''Our Lady of Hanoi''. The feast day of the church's title is July 2, the old date for Visitation. Today, Cửa Bắc Church is one of the three major churches in downtown Hanoi, together with Hàm Long Church and Saint Joseph Cathedral. In November 2006, Cửa Bắc Church was chosen the venue of a joint congregation of the Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants with participation of the

President

, who was on an official visit to Vietnam. After the service, the President remarked: "Laura and I just had a moment to converse with God in a church here in Hanoi. We were touched by the simplicity and the beauty of the moment. We appreciate very much the congregation for allowing us to come and worship with them."

References

External links

Christmas decorations at Cua Bac Church
Roman Catholic churches in Hanoi Roman Catholic churches completed in 1931 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Vietnam {{Asia-RC-church-stub