Hàm Nghi Boulevard () is an east–west

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

in District 1, downtown

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

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 ...

. The boulevard stretches from Tôn Đức Thắng Boulevard (

Bạch Đằng Quay Bạch Đằng Quay () is a wharf and park with an address No.2 Tôn Đức Thắng Boulevard, Bến Nghé in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, District 1, downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It stretches along about of the Saigon River from the Th ...

Saigon River The Saigon River () is a river located in southern Vietnam that rises near Phum Daung in southeastern Cambodia, flows south and southeast for about and empties into the Nhà Bè River, which in its turn empties into the South China Sea some no ...

waterfront) to the Quách Thị Trang Square (in front of the Bến Thành Market).

History

The boulevard was originally a waterway known in Vietnamese as ''rạch Cầu Sấu'' (translating to "Crocodile Bridge creek"). According to scholar Pétrus Ký, the creek got its name as there was once a

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

reservoir in the area, where crocodiles were bred for meat. Following the French conquest of Saigon, the streets on both sides of the creek were first designated by n° 3, then they were given the names rue Dayot and rue de Canton, respectively. The waterway was later filled in and then by a decree dated 14 May 1877, the two streets were given a single name: boulevard de Canton. In the 1880s, the Saigon–My Tho railway line was built along the center of the boulevard. On 24 February 1897, the municipal council decided to split the boulevard into two separate streets on either side of the railway track, each named after a French admiral: rue Krantz on the northern side and rue Duperré on the southern side. Then again on 22 April 1920, after the relocation of the railway terminus to the area occupied today by September 23 Park, the municipal council decided to resume the name "boulevard" for the streets, and the name boulevard de la Somme was chosen, after the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, one of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

's deadliest battles. In 1955, the boulevard was renamed Hàm Nghi Boulevard by the government

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

, after the former Emperor

Hàm Nghi Emperor Hàm Nghi (, vi-hantu, lit. "entirely right", 3 August 1871 – 14 January 1944), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch (), also Nguyễn Phúc Minh, was the eighth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. He reigned for only one ...

of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

Buildings

Hàm Nghi Boulevard is one of the street with most high-rise office buildings in the city, including: * IFC One Saigon (''under construction'') *Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department *Ho Chi Minh City University of Bank *Doji Tower (formerly Ruby Tower) *Vietinbank Tower *Saigon Railway Transport JSC Headquarter *Havanna Tower *Cao Thắng Technical College * Bitexco Financial Tower

History

Buildings

References

See also