The Presidential Palace

Presidential Palace in Hanoi is a three-storey structure located on the north of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Presidential Palace stands as a memento of French contribution to the architectural splendor in Indochina. This mustard-yellow palace was built from 1900 to 1906 to function as the living and operational bases of the governors-general of Indo-China. Located on Hung Vuong Street and Hoang Van Thu Street, the designs of this palace were conceived by Auguste Henri Vildieu, the French architect officially appointed for Vietnam.
History says that Ho Chi Minh denied staying in Presidential Palace in Hanoi when he returned to independent Vietnam after defeating the French in 1954. He rather began staying in a mere cottage within the premises of the palace from 1954 to 1958. Thereafter, he built a Vietnamese house made of stilt but he continued to use the palace when important guests came to Hanoi.
The tradition continues even now as the palace offers site for official receptions to guests and for other administrative meetings.
Features of Presidential Palace in Hanoi
- You won't be allowed to enter the palace but you can go around it for a look from outside.
- The building is enclosed by gardens and orchard and the famous Mango Alley, which being 300 feet long boulevard, leads from the palace to the stilt house where Ho Chi Minh stayed.
- Displaying the French architectural style, the palace has a conical structure.
- There are gates of wrought iron with sentry boxes at the entry of the palace.
- You will find parts of Italian Renaissance design used in 16th and 17th centuries in the structure of the building like the second floor with a stairway ending in the arched portal, broken gables, intricate columns and aedicules./.