Huyen Sy Church – Saigon Ho Chi Minh Attraction

What to do in District 1

At the corner of Ton That Tung – Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, Saigon, Cho Doi Church welcomes hundreds of people to worship and visit every day. Over a hundred years, Saigon people still call this Church Huyen Sy as a tribute to the person who spent 1/7 of his estate building. Huyen Sy is also the leader of the group of four great rich families in old Saigon with the simile “First Sy, Second Phuong, Third Xuong, Four Fire”.

Huyen Sy’s real name is Le Nhut Sy (1841-1900), born in Cau Kho (Saigon) but originally in Tan An (Long An) in a Catholic family. At a young age, he was taken by French monks to study in Malaysia. Here, Huyen Sy learned French, Chinese, and national languages. At this time, he changed his name to Le Phat Dat, because the old name was the same as the teacher’s name.

After studying abroad, he was appointed an interpreter by the French government. From 1880, he worked as a member of the Cochinchina County Council, after being promoted to the District level. Because people still call him by his name, the name Huyen Sy appeared from this time.

Mr. Huyen Sy died in 1900, at that time the church was not finished, it was not until 1920 when Huynh Thi Tai died, then the bodies of Huyen Sy and his wife were buried in a room behind the sanctuary. at Huyen Sy church.

In addition to the two statues lying in peace, there are also two portraits of Huyen Sy and his wife, facing each other, with fresh faces. The tomb is a masterpiece of architecture and sculpture.

Besides Cho Doi church, Chi Hoa, later engineer Le Phat Thanh (son of Huyen Sy) also built the famous Hanh Thong Tay church in Go Vap district today.

Father Ernest Nguyen Van Huong, the parish priest of Cho Doi (Huyen Sy church), said that the tomb area has had many changes. Previously, the two sides of the tomb area were two ceremonial rooms, later the church built additional corridors. The corridor behind, so you can go around between the two shrines without going through the tomb room. The grave is always carefully cared for by the church to show gratitude to the two grandparents.

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