Hanoi French Quarter Walk

St. Joseph Cathedral dominates the street with its twin square towers and a weathered, soot-stained facade that separates it from the city's brighter colonial buildings. Completed in eighteen eighty-six, the structure sits directly on the…

The high concrete walls topped with broken glass and electrified wire belong to the former Hoa Lo Prison. French colonists built this site in eighteen ninety-six to house Vietnamese revolutionaries, naming it after the street’s former…

The yellow facade of Trang Tien Plaza stretches across the corner with deep colonial arches and intricate white molding. Built in nineteen oh one by the French merchant Henri Lemaire, it started as the Grand Magasin Charner, the city’s…

The Hanoi Opera House stands out for its high yellow facade, arched windows, and a distinct neoclassical style modeled after the Palais Garnier in Paris. French architects built this structure in nineteen eleven to entertain the colonial…

The octagonal tower rising from the roof of the Vietnam National Museum of History mimics the shape of a traditional pagoda, but it sits atop a structure built in nineteen thirty-two for the French School of the Far East. Architect Ernest…

The Metropole features a white lime-washed facade with dark green shutters that stretches across the corner of Ngo Quyen and Le Phung Hieu streets. Built in nineteen oh one by two French investors, it served as the center of colonial…

The Government Guest House stands out on Trang Tien Street because of its bright yellow plaster and white neoclassical columns. It was designed by French architect Auguste Henri Vildieu and finished in nineteen nineteen to serve as the…

The State Bank of Vietnam headquarters stands out with its pale, lemon-yellow French colonial facade and heavy arched windows that stretch along the length of Trang Tien Street. Built in nineteen thirty as the Bank of Indochina, it served…