Hanoi Cathedral is characterized by European medieval Gothic architecture, following the model of Notre Dame Cathedral with wide and curved domes facing the sky. The building is a special highlight in the Hanoi Old Quarter area, which follows traditional Asian architecture.

The church has a length of about 65m, a width of 21m with 2 bell towers nearly 32m high, fixed by huge stone pillars. The exquisitely designed stone cross attracts everyone’s eyes from the moment they step in. The entire tile floor is created from terracotta bricks, and the four sides of the wall are plastered with paper to create an ancient and very beautiful space. For hundreds of years, the church wall covered with moss creates a wild and mysterious scene.

The main doorways and doors have pointed arches, typical of the Gothic style. The large curved dome facing upwards creates a lofty space. The highlight in the middle is the sophisticated, flower-shaped round window. With deep colors, mainly in European style, mixed with many motifs bearing Vietnamese images, making the two sides of the path of the church attractive, attracting tourists to admire and admire the unique beauty.

The church is divided into 3 compartments: the reception hall – a place for the choir and musicians, the ceremony area, and the sanctuary to celebrate the ceremony. Right in the church are hidden 3 tombs of Cardinal Trinh Nhu Khue, Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung and Hong Yi Trinh Van Can. In the middle is a statue of Our Lady, covering the entire church scene, creating an unusually cozy feeling, like a mother with her arms outstretched to embrace her young children.

Bringing a contemplative feature of time, Hanoi Cathedral as a special highlight for the architecture and landscape of the Hanoi Old Quarter area becomes much more special. If you ever come to Hanoi, you definitely cannot miss this place.

Hanoi Cathedral is located at the intersection of 3 major streets, namely Nha Chung, Ly Quoc Su, and Nha Tho streets (address at 40 Nha Chung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi). This place has become an attractive Hanoi tourist destination not only for young Hanoians but also for tourists from all over the world coming to this city.

1. Opening hours of Hanoi Cathedral: 

On weekdays (from Monday to Saturday), Hanoi Cathedral is open from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. On Sundays, Hanoi Cathedral is open to welcome visitors in the morning from 7 am to 11:30 am, and from 3 pm to 9 pm.

Service time at Hanoi Cathedral: On weekdays (from Monday to Friday), Hanoi Cathedral is open for service at 5:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. (18:00 on Saturday). Particularly on Sundays, Hanoi Cathedral opens more time frames for the ceremony so that more people can come here: 05h00, 07h00, 09h00, 11h00, 16h00 (children’s festival), 18h00, 20h00 (youth ceremony).

2. Move to Hanoi Cathedral:

To find the location of Hanoi Cathedral on the map is not too difficult, so choosing and finding means of transportation here is not too difficult. You can go by private vehicle or choose to book grab bike, taxi… Because this is an area located in the Old Quarter and close to many famous tourist attractions, the price of transportation services may be higher but convenient. much more convenient and easier to book a car.

In addition, to the transportation to Hanoi Cathedral, you can also choose to experience something new by traveling by bus. However, there is no direct bus route to Hanoi Cathedral, so you will have to go to a few places nearby and then walk into Hanoi Cathedral as below: 

Take the bus to Hoan Kiem Lake: You can take bus routes 09, 14, and 36 to get to the bank, then go straight to Hang Trong Street, turn left onto Nha Tho Street to reach Hanoi Cathedral.

Take the bus to Trieu Quoc Dat street: You can take bus 01 to Trieu Quoc Dat street, then go straight to Phu Doan street, then turn right onto Au Trieu street to get to Hanoi Cathedral.

Take the bus to Trang Thi: You can take bus route 02 to Trang Thi (get off at 6 Trang Thi, go straight for a section and then turn right into Phu Doan, continue Phu Doan and then turn right into Au Trieu to reach the Hanoi Cathedral.

3. History of Hanoi Cathedral:

Hanoi Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Hanoi located in the heart of the city. This is also the church with the archbishop’s throne, where often religious activities of the parishioners of the Archdiocese of Hanoi take place.

Until now, the cathedral has attracted people who are parishioners and tourists from all over the world to come here not only because of its religious and religious significance but also many special features in its architecture and history.

Built during the French colonial period, the cathedral is one of the typical works of colonial architecture still preserved until now in the capital. The architecture of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

According to many documents, the French government demolished the 800-year-old Bao Thien ancient pagoda to build a large church on the old land of the ancient temple. Legend has it that Bao Thien Tu was a famous national temple of Dai Viet capital during the dynasties of Ly – Tran – Le – Nguyen. At the end of the 18th century, the National Temple was demolished and the foundation of the pagoda was converted into a marketplace for Dai Viet people at that time. After a while, the government transferred that land to the Catholic Church to build the big church like today.

Although built on the ground of the old temple, the architecture of these two works is completely different.

At the beginning of completion, the large church was built temporarily of wood to serve the religious activities of the parishioners, in 1884, the church began to be completed with terracotta. The process of building the cathedral in Hanoi encountered many difficulties, but the work was still completed in time for Christmas in 1888.

 Although the “birth" name of the church is St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi people are used to calling it a more affectionate name, Hanoi Cathedral. Experiencing many ups and downs of history, and witnessing many events of the time, the cathedral has quietly witnessed the “change of flesh" of the capital during the past 3 centuries. Although in the midst of the magnificent capital land, many unique architectural works have sprung up, the cathedral is still a special highlight, a fluttering note in the architectural symphony of Hanoi, making it becomes a must-see attraction.

4. The unique architecture of Hanoi Cathedral:

Hanoi Cathedral has the neo-Gothic style of the 19th century with typical European symmetrical towers and shafts. This special structure has a length of 64.5m with a bell tower up to 31.5m high. At that time, this was the most unique and monumental architectural work in Hanoi Old Quarter in particular and the Hanoi capital in general. From Hoan Kiem Lake to the West, visitors can easily recognize the Hanoi Cathedral by the deep colors of time printed on the dark gray walls, striking against the clear blue sky.

People always wonder why the Old Quarter is always bustling and busy, but around the Hanoi Cathedral, it’s so quiet and peaceful, it feels like the cathedral of Hanoi is alone with all that is vibrant and crazy in this city. That is also the reason so many tourists love this place.

Inside the church, the rows of stained glass windows and many wall paintings with religious themes emphasize and highlight the European architectural style. Besides, many decorative details in traditional Vietnamese style are decorated along the aisle, on the wall, and on the altar… creating impressive features for the entire space. Besides, another tourist attraction inside the church is the Holy Palace. The sanctuary is decorated according to folk tradition, although simple but impressive and eye-catching, in the middle of the sanctuary is a statue of Saint Joseph holding Jesus, on both sides of the sanctuary there is an altar to the Mother of God and many other holy statues.

Below the Cathedral are long red benches, with kneeling tables for parishioners to perform Mass in the cathedral. Hanoi Cathedral can accommodate up to thousands of people. On major occasions such as Christmas, Hanoi Cathedral is a place that attracts a large number of tourists from all over the world and parishioners come here to visit and worship.

After many years of hiatus, Masses at Hanoi Cathedral were re-organized in 1990, attracting a large number of parishioners to participate. Since then, holy services at Hanoi Cathedral always attract large numbers of people on all days of the week.

5. Top 5 activities not to be missed when coming to Hanoi Cathedral

5.1. Visit the ceremony held in the Cathedral

Visiting the services held in Hanoi Cathedral is an interesting experience that you should try first when visiting this place. This is the place where the Catholics’ beliefs and religions are most clearly expressed through Masses at the church such as weddings, baptisms, etc. Learning more about the unique features of the rituals in a Catholic ceremony is an unforgettable experience of a lifetime.

You should note that Hanoi Cathedral is open to visitors for free, opening and closing hours of the church may vary by day (the church is usually closed during lunch break). When visiting the church during the ceremonies, you should pay attention to dress politely, discreetly, neatly, do not speak loudly, shout loudly and absolutely should not say words discriminating against religious differences, offend or affect other saints, and laity.

5.2. Celebrate Christmas at Hanoi Cathedral

Christmas is the time when Hanoi Cathedral “puts on" the most beautiful and shimmering robe. Whether you are a Catholic or a pagan, every Christmas, we always pray for peace, happiness, and blessings to all the loved ones around us. When you come to Hanoi Cathedral on Christmas, you will enjoy the warm and happy atmosphere with the Christmas verse sparkling with lights and shimmering with caves that recreate the legendary story of Jesus.

5.3 Check-in “virtual life" at Hanoi Cathedral

On Facebook, Instagram, Zalo, and other social networking sites…you will not be short of the “virtual life" photos of young people at the cathedral in Hanoi. Whether it’s sunny days, autumn with golden leaves or winter with cold winds, the scene at the Hanoi Cathedral is ready for you to take pictures of “quality like distilled water" because the background is so beautiful it feels like standing in the middle. European heaven.

No matter if you coming to Hanoi seems to be unable to ignore this check-in place, with what Hanoi cathedral is there, it will definitely give you extremely beautiful and quality photos in your journey. Don’t miss this wonderful experience when coming to Hanoi Cathedral!

5.4. Enjoy the “specialty" of lemon tea in the Cathedral

It is unknown when lemon tea became a specialty drink in the Hanoi cathedral. Every weekend or late afternoon to midnight, young Hanoians invite each other to “let’s have lemon tea from the big church".

Lemon tea at the cathedral is not too different from lemon tea in other places, only, try the feeling of sipping a little bit of sour, sweet, cool tea, biting sunflower, and sitting “eight" enough. stories of heaven and earth with close friends, behind a large church musing as if listening to all stories, so a gentle weekend evening passed.

In addition to lemon tea, there are many other snacks that appeal to young people such as mango pickles, vermicelli along the way, spring rolls, fried spring rolls… The snacks are not new but have a bold “sidewalk cuisine" character. In Hanoi, with only a few tens of thousands of dollars, you can enjoy delicious Hanoi-style snacks here.

The space to enjoy the food at the Hanoi Cathedral is the “restaurant" of an extremely airy open space, with a few low plastic chairs, one more chair as a table, and so on. The guests who “missed" once came here could not help but be satisfied with what the Hanoi cathedral has to offer.

5.5. Explore Ho Guom walking street at the weekend

The large church located right next to the tourist destination is considered the symbol and carries the soul of Hanoi tourism, which is Sword Lake. On weekends, here opens a walking street to serve the entertainment and entertainment needs of Hanoians and foreign tourists. A perfect tour schedule for you is that you can go to the Cathedral in the afternoon, then in the evening, you can go to the pedestrian street to join and immerse yourself in the vibrant, fun, and vibrant life. dynamic of this street at night. It regularly organizes music events, shows, volunteer activities…

Especially, if you want to improve your English, this is an extremely suitable place, Walking Street is a place where many foreigners come here to travel, visit, and relax… so it’s very easy to start a conversation to hone your foreign language skills with a foreign tourist here.

Well, Joseph’s Sain Cathedral has a lot of interesting things waiting for you to discover. We have already taken you around this interesting place, what are you waiting for? Let’s come check in with nice shots immediately.

• Opening hours of Hanoi Cathedral;
• Move to Hanoi Cathedral;
• History of Hanoi Cathedral;
• The unique architecture of Hanoi Cathedral;
• Top 5 activities not to be missed when coming to Hanoi Cathedral: Visit the ceremony held in the Cathedral, Celebrate Christmas at Hanoi Cathedral, Check-in “virtual life" at Hanoi Cathedral, Enjoy the “specialty" of lemon tea in the Cathedral & Explore Ho Guom walking street at the weekend.