The Independence Palace ( vi, Dinh Độc Lập), also publicly known as the Reunification Convention Hall ( vi, Hội trường Thống Nhất), is a landmark in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

(formerly known as Saigon),

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. It was designed by architect

Ngô Viết Thụ Ngô Viết Thụ (17 September 1927 – 3 September 2000) was a Vietnamese architect. Ngô Viết Thụ was born on 17 September 1927 in Thừa Thiên, French Indochina. He married Võ Thị Cơ and had eight children, one of whom, Dr. Ngô Vi ...

and was the home and workplace of the President of the Republic of (South) Vietnam. It was the site of the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

on 30 April 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wi ...

tank crashed through its gates.

Historical timeline

Republic of Vietnam

Construction of the current Independence Palace was ordered by President

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

to replace the old palace, which was badly damaged due to being bombed by two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots. It was constructed according to a design by

, a Vietnamese architect who won the First Grand Prize of Rome (

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

) in 1955, the highest recognition of the Beaux-Arts school in Paris. He was also a

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Prize, and for former music direc ...

of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

awarded by the French government. Vietnam Independence Palace 1967

The construction of the palace started on 1 July 1962. Meanwhile, Diệm and his ruling family moved to

Gia Long Palace Gia Long Palace ( vi, Dinh Gia Long, french: palais de Gia Long), now officially the Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Vietnamese language: ''Bảo tàng Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh'') is a historical site and museum in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam. T ...

(today the

Ho Chi Minh City Museum Gia Long Palace ( vi, Dinh Gia Long, french: palais de Gia Long), now officially the Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Vietnamese language: ''Bảo tàng Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh'') is a historical site and museum in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam. T ...

). However, Diệm did not see the completed hall as he and his brother and chief adviser

Ngô Đình Nhu Ngô Đình Nhu (; 7 October 19102 November 1963; baptismal name Jacob) was a Vietnamese archivist and politician. He was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm. Although he held n ...

were assassinated after a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

'' led by General

Dương Văn Minh Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm ...

in November 1963. The completed hall was inaugurated on 31 October 1966 by the chairman of the National Leadership Committee, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who was then the head of a military junta. The Independence Hall served as Thiệu’s home and office from October 1967 to 21 April 1975, when he fled the country as communist North Vietnamese forces swept southwards in the decisive

Ho Chi Minh Campaign The 1975 spring offensive ( vi, chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 ( vi, Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vie ...

. On 8 April 1975, Nguyễn Thanh Trung, a pilot of the South Vietnamese air force and an undetected communist spy flew an

F-5E The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and the ...

aircraft from

Biên Hòa Air Base Bien Hoa Air Base ( Vietnamese: ''Sân bay Biên Hòa'') is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about from Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai river in the northern ward of Tân Phon ...

to bomb the palace but caused no significant damage. At 10:45 on 30 April 1975, a tank of the

North Vietnamese army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wi ...

bulldozed through the main gate, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In November 1975, after the negotiation convention between the communist North Vietnam and their colleagues in South Vietnam was completed, the Provisional Revolutionary Government renamed the palace Reunification Hall (''Hội trường Thống Nhất''). The palace is depicted on the 200- đồng note of South Vietnam. File:FormerPresidentialOfficeReunificationPalace.jpg, President's Office in the Hall File:ReunificationPalaceWarroom.jpg, The old war room underneath the palace File:Roof of Reunification Palace.JPG, Roof of Reunification Palace File:HCMC Reunification Palace-Banquet Room.jpg, The Banquet Chamber in the Independence Hall File:Palacio de la Reunificación, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 2013-08-14, DD 35.JPG, Ministers' cabinet room File:Palacio de la Reunificación, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 2013-08-14, DD 32.JPG, Conference hall File:Palacio de la Reunificación, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 2013-08-14, DD 05.JPG, Vietnamese T-54 tank in the gardens at the entrance of the palace

References

External links

{{Commons category, Reunification Palace
Official website
''The New York Times Magazine'', 12 January 2003 * ttp://saigon-online.net/index.php/independence-palace-reunification-palace-must-destination-in-ho-chi-minh-city/ Tourist attraction Government buildings completed in 1966 Buildings and structures in Ho Chi Minh City History of Ho Chi Minh City Presidential residences Office buildings in Vietnam Tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City Museums in Ho Chi Minh City Palaces in Vietnam