October 17, 2019

The Saigon Central Post Office rebuilt between 1886-1891, and architects Villedieu and Foulhoux designed the building, which is structurally influenced by the gothic, renaissance, and French architecture. However, the original version of the post office was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the famed designer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

With its late 19th-century huge clock hanging above the main entrance (which by the way has been working since the opening of the post office) and a beautiful dome-shaped roof, the building has the air of an old railway station.

Once you step inside, there is a huge portrait of Ho Chi Minh hanging high above on the wall's center at the far end of the building. There are also two huge maps show the Saigon region in 1892, and the telegraphic lines in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1936.

Another feature that I found myself drawn to was the vintage international wooden telephone booths near the entrance that make me think of how Vietnam's communication was in the past.

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The Saigon Central Post Office is very much a colonial building, but it's still a fully-functional office serving locals and tourists until now. It is located at 2 Công xã Paris, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh 710009, Vietnam, and adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon.