1. Cho Quan Church
Cho Quan Church, located off a busy intersection in Saigon's Cholon district, is one of the oldest and largest churches in the area.
While the existing church, built by one Father Nicolas Ham who is now buried under the foundation, is more than a century old, it was built on the site of two earlier churches destroyed in wars - the original was constructed in 1720.
The current church has been repeatedly upgraded and much of its turn-of-the-century charm has gone with it and its neon lit Jesus Crucifix.
The proper upkeep does have an upside as it is one of the only churches that allows guests into its tower, which offers great views of the district.
2. Duc Ba Church
Proposed to be one of France's most ambitious project in Indochina at the time, Rev. Colombert laid the cornerstone for the cathedral on October 7, 1877. Three years later, in 1880, the cathedral was opened to the public. These two dates are inscribed on a marble placard in the cathedral.The bricks used to build the structure were shipped from Marseilles. Artisans from Lorin Company (Chartres, France) were commissioned to create the stained glass windows. The cost of construction was a whopping 2.5 million francs. In 1962, the Vatican gave the cathedral the title Basilique.
3. Cha Tam Church
This pastel-yellow and white, slender church is worth combining with a trip to Cholon as it had a small but important role to play in Vietnam's wartime history.
Following a coup on November 1, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother fled their palace through a tunnel network and eventually sought safety here.
They spent the night within the church's grounds and the following morning were captured by coup loyalists. En route to military headquarters, both Diem and his brother were murdered. Diem was subsequently buried in an unmarked grave not far from the US
