A Vietnamese temple in France

Monday, 09:45, 05/09/2016

Not only unique in terms of architecture, the temple of dead soldiers in Indochina is also a historical witness to Vietnam-France relations.

The Vietnamese temple is located inside the Colonial Garden (Jardin colonial de Nogent-sur-Marne) in the suburbs of Paris.

In 1905 the French governor of Thu Dau Mot province in Vietnam - Ernest Outrey – ordered to urgently build a wooden house, based on the architecture of Ba Lua Temple. The wooden house was transported to France to participate in the Colonial Exhibition held in Marseille in 1906.

In 1907 the French authorities brought the house to another exhibition held in the garden in the suburbs of Paris (road 45bis, Avenue Belle-Gabrielle, Colonial Garden).

After the World War I, the French began building monuments for the dead soldiers who came from the French colonies.

The wooden house from Vietnam has become a monument for more than 1,500 Vietnamese soldiers who died for France.

The temple was inaugurated on June 9th 1920. The inauguration ceremony had the presence of many high-ranking French and Vietnamese officials.

The house had been restored and re-arranged by Vietnamese artisans, using materials brought from Vietnam.

Since then, the temple has become a tourist site and a worship place for those who came from Vietnam, including King Khai Dinh and his son – prince Bao Dai, who paid a visit to the temple in 1922.

In the World War II, about 1,400 Vietnamese soldiers died for France. The French government built one more board with their names in the temple.

After World War. II, France was again stuck in a 9-year war in Vietnam, which ended by its defeat in Dien Bien Phu. The names of Vietnamese who died for France were added at a board in the temple.