Located right in the heart of District 1, on the crowded Ton That Tung street, Huyen Si Church with its ancient appearance always exudes a unique charm, attracting visitors from near and far.
Not only possessing outstanding architectural features, this building also contains stories and anecdotes about the life of the great tycoon Huyen Si - the maternal grandfather of Queen Nam Phuong.
In the article below, let's explore this outstanding building with MLifeOn.
Le Nhut Sy - Owner of Huyen Si Church
Huyen Si Church, also known by its official name as the Church of Saint Philip the Apostle, is an ancient and massive building, but few people know that this building was originally owned by one of the four great tycoons of ancient Saigon.
“Nhat Si, Nhi Phuong, Tam Xuong, Tu Hoa” - those are the four great tycoons of old Saigon. If Uncle Hoa or Hua Bon Hoa is in the fourth position, owning the Fine Arts Museum with 100 windows, then the great tycoon Le Nhut Sy is in the first position, owning the church with the largest campus in Saigon, the name of the building is also named after himself.
Mr. Le Nhut Sy's Christian name is Philipphe, born into a Catholic family. However, from the beginning, his family was not well-off but on the contrary, they were relatively poor, Mr. Le Nhut Sy had to drive a ferry for a living. But Le Nhut Sy was a talented and smart person, so he was highly respected by the priests. After finishing primary school, he was sent to Malaysia to study. Here, because he had the same name as his teacher, he was renamed Le Phat Dat.
The period when Le Nhut Sy rose to prominence and entered the upper class, becoming one of the four great tycoons, must include the period when the French seized and auctioned off abandoned land but no one bought it. Thanks to his risk of borrowing money to buy land and renting it to people for cultivation. Heaven and earth supported him, many consecutive harvests were bountiful, Le Nhut Sy "saved little by little to make a big deal", gathered to buy more land and gradually became a real estate tycoon, one of the four great tycoons at that time.
In the last years of his life, Le Phat Dat dedicated part of his land to build Huyen Sy church as a way to express his respect for his religion. And this was also his tomb, his resting place at the end of his life.
Huyen Sy Church - A Valuable Architectural Project
Begun construction in 1902 (2 years after Le Nhut Sy passed away), Huyen Sy Church was completed and put into use in 1905, becoming a place for parishioners to worship, and also a religious and historical symbol of Saigon at that time.
Huyen Sy Church was built on Le Nhut Sy's land. The cost of construction accounted for 1/7 of Le Nhut Sy's fortune (estimated at more than 300,000 Indochinese silver coins). It was built according to the design of Father Bouttie.
Huyen Sy Church is 40 meters long, 18 meters wide, and includes 4 rooms. According to the original design, the project was expected to be built with 5 rooms, 50 meters long, but during the construction process, one room was cut to support the construction and repair costs for Chi Hoa Church.
Similar to many churches built in the same period, Huyen Sy Church bears the mark of Western architecture, of the Gothic style.
Specifically, the main hall has a pointed arch, the surrounding wall is designed with many pointed arched windows, decorated with Italian stained glass. In addition, the interior of the church has many statues of saints, notably the statue of Saint Philip the patron saint on the main door arch, made of marble, holding the Easter cross.
On the roof is the main bell tower 57 m high, inside the tower are four bells cast in France in 1905. The main material used is Bien Hoa marble, to cover the facade and the main hall columns. The exterior of the church is painted light pink, on each roof there is a cross image.
If you take the time to visit the entire church area, as well as the grounds of this special building, you will clearly feel the characteristics of Western architecture emanating from every corner of the church.
What is special when you come to this building is that in the left room behind the sanctuary of the church is the tomb of Mr. Huyen Sy and his wife. Although the great tycoon died in 1900, his body was only officially brought into the church in 1920 - when his wife passed away.
When visiting Huyen Sy church, you can visit the tomb of the couple Le Nhut Sy.
If you are looking for an ancient building with many values to visit and explore, why not try to visit Huyen Sy Church - a prominent religious and historical building located right in the heart of District 1.
A little tip for you is that from the Huyen Sy Church area, you can easily move and visit other typical historical buildings such as Independence Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, City Post Office to create an interesting discovery tour.
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CREDIT:
- Photography: Luan Nguyen - Content: Giang Huynh - Design: Phuong Nguyen