Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Gia Long Palace)

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum occupies the former Gia Long Palace at 65 Ly Tu Trong in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The building was constructed in 1890 as a residence and museum for the French colonial administration and was designed in a neoclassical style with Renaissance and Baroque features. Over time it served as the home of the governor of Cochinchina, then as the seat of the government of the Republic of Vietnam and as a presidential residence. It is associated with the November 1963 coup, when President Ngo Dinh Diem took refuge there before fleeing to Cholon. After 1975 it was converted into a museum and now documents the history of the city. The facade is a two-storey cream-coloured building with columns, balustrades and a central portico, set in a garden with trees and a parking area. Inside, the grand staircase, high ceilings and decorative tiled floors remain from the colonial period. Exhibits cover the history of the area from the time of Prey Nokor and the Khmer settlements, through the Nguyen lords' expansion, the French conquest and the colonial city, the revolutionary movements and the wars of the 20th century, as well as the city's economic and cultural development. Rooms contain photographs, models, documents, weapons, textiles and everyday objects, together with the preserved office and reception spaces. The curatorial approach is chronological and thematic, with bilingual labels in some sections. There is also an exhibition of vehicles used by revolutionary forces in the garden, and a basement tunnel network said to have been built as an escape route is shown to visitors. The building is in a generally good state of preservation and has been renovated in stages.