Hanh Thong Tay Church

The photo features Hanh Thong Tay Church, built by My Le Phat An, the uncle of Queen Phuong Nam and inside the church exists tombs of Le and his wife.

Mr. Le donated the land and cost of construction to build this church in 1921. He was one of the four richest people in Cochinechina in that period.

In earlier time, the parish of Hanh Thong Tay was suburbs, parishioners sparsely lived and were very poor. Knowing that, Mr. Le decided to spend a large amount of money to build the new, more spacious church.

The church was built in three years by a French contractor. He chose the design of the Byzantine style, modeling after the Basilica of Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Byzantine style is an architectural style with a dome-shaped design and using many glass window to get light.