What was once a cemetery for French soldiers and the elite, since 1983 has been recognized as Le Van Tam Park; the center of Ho Chi Minh City as we know it today.
The city of Ho Chi Minh City had many cemeteries with hundreds of thousands of graves. Most of them were built at the end of the nineteenth century under French rule, when the scale of Saigon - Gia Dinh was very small. After that, the population quickly became so crowded that the authorities had to move the cemetery in order to "take land for construction of welfare facilities, [and to] keep environment clean".
Among the cemeteries, one of the most famous, and perhaps the oldest is Mac Dinh Chi - now Le Van Tam Park. This area is bounded by 4 streets, being Dien Bien Phu - Hai Ba Trung - Vo Thi Sau and Phan Liem in the center of District 1.
According to author Tim Doling (Ireland) - who has many studies, researching the history of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City, Le Van Tam Park was originally a European cemetery (Cimetière Européen) or Massiges cemetery. Saigon people at that time also referred to it as the “Holy land of the West”, which was later changed to Mac Dinh Chi cemetery.
In 1859, after the takeover of Saigon, the French built this cemetery with an area of 7.5 hectares east of National Road (now Hai Ba Trung). Upon completion, the cemetery was assigned to the French Navy to administer and bury officers and French soldiers during the occupation of Saigon.
However, the cemetery also has a large number of German and Russian tombs. Until the late 1860s, civilians began to be buried here because at that time Saigon had many deaths due to cholera, malaria, intestinal parasites and dysentery.
Around 1870, a small Vietnamese cemetery (Cimetière Anamite or Cimetière Indigène) was opened just north of the European cemetery. This cemetery is named rue des Deux cimetières. Ten years later, it was named Mayer, then Hien Vuong and today, Vo Thi Sau.
From the end of the 19th century, Saigon began to prosper. European cemeteries became the resting place of colonial politicians and administrators. Among them were architects Marie-Alfred Foulhoux (1840-1892) and mayor of Saigon Paul Blanchy (1837-1901).
The change made it a burial site for the colonial elite, as mentioned in an important report in Courrier Saigonnais dated December 14, 1912. At that time, the number of monumental tombs of the powerful people in Saigon grew, while the tombs of the French soldiers and sailors were abandoned, becoming a grassy meadow.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery was divided into small streets with trees and ornamental plants by the people of Saigon. The cemetery is now surrounded by four 2.5 m high lime walls with the main gate south of Legrand de la Liraye (now Dien Bien Phu).
The main gate is directly opposite the northern end of Bangkok Road, and after 1920 the Bangkok Road was renamed Massiges (now known as Mac Dinh Chi Street), which is known as the Massiges Road Cemetery.
Many famous characters of the colonial period were later buried there. However, the most impressive grave of this period was the tomb of Nguyen Van Thinh (died on November 1st, 1946) - the first prime minister of the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina period (1/6 / 1946- 8 / 10/1947).
In March 1955, when the French withdrew from Vietnam, the Massiges was renamed to Mac Dinh Chi by the government of the Republic of Vietnam, and the name implicitly became the name of the cemetery.
Over the next two decades, prominent politicians and other members of the South Vietnamese government were buried here, along with a small number of foreigners, including François Sully, working for Time and Newsweek (died February 1971).
The most famous person buried at this cemetery was the President of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem and his younger brother, the director of political consultancy Ngo Dinh Nhu. Two people were assassinated by the protesters on November 2nd, 1963. In addition, there is also the grave of the General of the Republic of Vietnam, Le Van Ty, Lieutenant General Luu Kim Cuong ...
In 1971, according to Arthur J Dommen, part of the wall to the west of the cemetery was collapsed, accompanied by rumors that it was a sign that Thieu was responsible for Diem's death and that he must do something to free Diem's soul.
The devil's rumors in the cemetery only really began to spread widely after 1983, when the Ho Chi Minh government decided to stop running the Mac Dinh Chi cemetery with thousands of graves and instead, to build the City Children's Palace. However, it was later re-planned as a green park and named Le Van Tam.
Also in the relocation run by authorities at that time, relatives buried in the cemetery were instructed to arrange the re-burial in another two months. If there was no recipient, the bodies had to be cremated and relocated elsewhere. Remnants of the French soldiers were sent home for burial.
The grave of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother was moved to Lai Thieu cemetery (Binh Hoa, Thuan An, Binh Duong). Another brother of Diem, Ngo Dinh Can, was buried at the Tan Son Nhat airport cemetery after being shot in 1965, and the grave of her mother, Pham Thi Than, was also brought there.
At present, Le Van Tam Park with its many trees and covered in shade has replaced the deserted Mac Dinh Chi cemetery of before. It also regularly hosts recreational activities as well as fairs and exhibitions on books and agriculture. However, there are still many superstitious local people who do not want to come here because of its history.
This is also the site of an underground parking project worth $ 100 million. The capacity is said to fit 2,000 motorcycles, 1,250 cars, 28 buses, trucks and one on three commercial bases. However, after the ground breaking in August 2010, so far the project is "on hold" because of some procedural changes and the date of completion is to be unknown.
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