St. Joseph's Cathedral - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Hoan Kiem Lake means "Lake of the Returned Sword". According to the legend, after defeating the Ming China in early 1428, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when a Golden Turtle God surfaced and asked for his magic sword. Lợi concluded that the turtle god had come to reclaim the sword that its master, a local God, the Dragon King had given to Lợi. The Emperor later gave the sword back to the turtle after he finished fighting off the Chinese.

Hỏa Lò Prison was a prison used by the French colonists in French Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although the gatehouse remains as a museum.

Active railway tracks going through resedential buildings and shops. Note that this area is closed for visitors due to safety concerns you can visit it only if you know someone who lives in the area and bring you along.

Materials, photos and objects displayed in the permanent exhibition show the role the Vietnamese women played in history and currently play in arts and in family life. The museum also organizes thematic exhibitions to show changes and development of the contemporary society.

The museum displays eras of Vietnamese military history showcased in different buildings on the complex. The museum also includes a display of decommissioned, captured or destroyed military equipment and vehicles used by French, Viet Minh, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States during the First and Second Indochina Wars.

Opera House erected by the French colonial administration between 1901 and 1911, it was modeled on the Palais Garnier, the older of Paris's two opera houses. After the departure of the French, the opera house became the scene for several political events as well as the scene of street fighting during the fight for Hanoi.