Presidential Palace | where President Ho Chi Minh spent most of his life | Hanoi

Presidential Palace | where President Ho Chi Minh spent most of his life | Hanoi

Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Vietnam

Located next to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace is a mustard-yellow building stands as a memento of French contribution to the architectural splendor in Indochina, and used to be the Headquarters for the Governor General of Indochina.

This three-storey palace was built from 1900 to 1906 and designed by French architect Auguste Henri Vildieu.

After the French were defeated, in 1954, Ho Chi Minh denied staying in the Presidential Palace. Instead he lived in two humble houses on the Palace’s ground. The tradition continues even now as the palace offers site for official receptions to guests and for other administrative meetings.

The building is enclosed by gardens and orchard and the famous Mango Alley, which being 300 feet long boulevard. It is not open to the public, although one may walk around the grounds for a fee.