Photo gallery: Cua Bac Church in Hanoi

It was built in 1932 and originally named as Church of Martyrs (French: Église des Martyrs) by the French administration of Indochina as a part of Hanoi’s urban plan supervised by Ernest Hébrard.

Today, Cua Bac Church is one of the three major churches of Hanoi, together with Ham Long Church and Saint Joseph Cathedral.

In November, 2006, it became the venue of joint worship service of the Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants with participation of the US President George W Bush, who was on a visit to Vietnam.

Just days prior to George Bush’s visit the US State Department commended Vietnam for its "significant improvements toward advancing religious freedom" and Mr Bush’s trip was designed to highlight the achievement.

The architecture by French architect Ernest Hébrard is characterized by symmetry, with a bell tower soaring main lobby side. This gives it special characteristics in comparison with the majority of Christian structures in Hanoi.

Roof systems are pulled through from steeple to a dome over the main and auxiliary space that is similar to a traditional temple in Vietnam.

The combination of traditional architectural elements with Eastern decorative forms of traditional Catholic churches along with the harmony of the surrounding natural land makes it aesthetically beautiful.