Paris Commune Square | |
Native Name: | Công trường Công xã Paris |
Place Type: | City square |
Former Names: | Place Pigneau de Béhaine, Hòa Bình Square, John F. Kennedy Square |
Image Place: | Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral (14056336858).jpg |
Image Caption: | Paris Commune Square in 2014 |
Owner: | Ho Chi Minh City |
Location: | District 1, Ho Chi Minh City |
Coordinates: | 10.7793°N 106.6995°W |
Paris Commune Square (Vietnamese: Công trường Công xã Paris) is a small square located in District 1, downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It lies between Lê Duẩn Boulevard and Nguyễn Du Street and surrounds the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. This is also the starting point of the famous Đồng Khởi Street. The square is surrounded by two remarkable architectural works: Notre-Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office.
The square was originally named Place de la Cathédrale (roughly translated "Cathedral Square") dated back to the French colonial period.[1] In 1903, the colonial government erected a bronze statue of French Catholic priest Pigneau de Behaine and juvenile Prince Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh[2] in the center of the garden in front of the cathedral, and the square is thus known as place Pigneau de Béhaine. It was brought down in October 1945[3] leaving behind an empty statue pedestal. There was no statue on the site until 1959 under the First Republic of Vietnam, when a new statue of Our Lady of Peace (Vietnamese: Tượng Đức Bà Hòa Bình) was erected in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[4] The square itself was called Hòa Bình Square (Vietnamese: Công trường Hòa Bình, literally "Peace Square"). In May 1964, the South Vietnamese government renamed it President John F. Kennedy Square (Vietnamese: Công trường Tổng thống John F. Kennedy) honoring the assassinated U.S. President.[5] After the Fall of Saigon, the square was renamed Vietnamese: Công trường Công xã Paris (literally means "Paris Commune Square") by the Provisional Revolutionary Government.