The Basilica of Immaculate Conception () is a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

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 ...

basilica in Phú Nhai, Xuân Trường, Nam Định,

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 ...

History

Phú Nhai, now in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Bùi Chu The diocese of Bùi Chu () is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic diocese of Vietnam. It encompasses 4/5 of Nam Định Province in terms of area, including the six districts of Xuân Trường District, Xuân Trường, Giao Thủy District, Giao ...

, was one of major Catholic parishes in Vietnam under the pastoral care of the Spanish

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. One of the first two bishops of the Vietnamese Catholic church,

Pierre Lambert de la Motte Pierre Lambert de la Motte, MEP (; 16 January 1624 – 15 June 1679) was a French bishop. He was a founding member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a missionary in Asia. Biography Lambert de la Motte was born 16 January 1624 in ...

was also anointed in the diocese in 1670. The construction of the church began in 1866 after Emperor

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...

signed a treaty with the French promising not to harm the Christian community. The first church was built in 1881. Construction of the second church began in 1916, and was completed in 1923. Major storms devastated the church on June 24, 1929. A nationwide lottery was conducted to fund the construction, and the replacement (third) church was consecrated on the day of the feast of

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

on December 8, 1933. During the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, the church suffered minor damages, after the French took over the church. Bishop Dominic Nguyen Chu Trinh decided to renovate the church in 2003, and the church in its present state was consecrated on September 26, 2004. In 2008, the church was elevated as a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

by Pope Benedict XVI.

Architecture

The basilica rises to a height of 30 meters and is flanked by two bell towers, each of which are 44 meter long. The bell towers contain 4 bells, each of which weighs two tons. In front of the church, there is a square with two monuments. On the left is a 15-meter-tall tomb for 83 martyrs. On the right is a 17-meter-tall pillar topped by a statue of St. Dominic.

References

External links

{{French Colonial Architecture in Vietnam Basilica churches in Vietnam, S French colonial architecture in Vietnam 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Vietnam Roman Catholic churches completed in 1933 Gothic Revival church buildings in Vietnam 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Vietnam