Vietnam: The French colonial General Post Office, designed by Gustave Eiffel, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Saigon's General Post Office, next to Notre Dame Cathedral, was built between 1886 and 1891. Designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame), the vaulted interior is reminiscent of a grand 19th century European train station.

Former Emperor Bảo Đại made Saigon the capital of the State of Vietnam in 1949 with himself as head of state. After the Việt Minh gained control of North Vietnam in 1954, it became common to refer to the Saigon government as 'South Vietnam'.

The government was renamed the Republic of Vietnam when Bảo Đại was deposed by his Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem in a fraudulent referendum in 1955. Saigon and Cholon, an adjacent city with many Sino-Vietnamese residents, were combined into an administrative unit called Đô Thành Sài Gòn (Capital City Saigon).

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia