Saigon Governor's Palace
The Saigon Governor's Palace (French: Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon), also known as the Norodom Palace and then renamed Independence Palace, was a government building in Saigon, French Cochinchina, built between 1868 and 1873.
Saigon Governor's Palace
Norodom Palace, Independence Palace
Demolished
Head of state residence
23 March 1868
1873
1962
2
It contained the residence of the Governor of Cochinchina, administrative offices, reception rooms and ballrooms. The imposing and very expensive neo-Baroque building was intended to impress the people of Saigon with the power and wealth of the French. In 1887 the main seat of government in French Indochina was moved to Hanoi, and soon after the Lieutenant Governor of Cochinchina moved to a new, less pretentious mansion. The building continued to be used for ceremonial purposes, and became the residence of the President of South Vietnam in 1954. It was bombed and badly damaged during an attempted coup in 1962, torn down and replaced by the present Independence Palace.
Later history[edit]
In October 1887 Cochinchina became part of the Indo-Chinese Union, whose governor-general was based in Hanoi. The Governor of Cochinchina became a Lieutenant Governor, and a less pretentious residence was created for him by adapting a nearby trade exhibition hall that was under construction, completed in 1890. For the rest of the French colonial era the palace, also known as Norodom Palace, was used only for ceremonial purposes and by Governors General when they visited Saigon. Subsidence often forced costly repairs to the foundations. The central dome had to be replaced in 1893.
On 7 September 1954 the French handed the palace over to the South Vietnamese government, which renamed it Independence Palace and used it as the presidential palace of Ngô Đình Diệm. Later, Diệm had his brother and sister in law, Ngô Đình Nhu and Madame Nhu, moved into the palace with him.[6]
During a coup attempt on 27 February 1962 two airplanes bombed the building and demolished the left wing. President Diệm then ordered the whole building demolished and the present Independence Palace was built in its place.[5]