Explore the 150-year-old historical prison at Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Hospital
Within the grounds of the Ho Chi Minh City Tropical
Hospital, there exists a prison over a hundred years old, which
used to detain many revolutionary soldiers during the American
war.
Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Hospital has a long and tumultuous
history. Established in 1862, this place is not only a medical
facility but also a witness to many historical changes. Few
people know that before becoming the center for treating
infectious diseases in the City, this place used to be a mental
hospital, called "Cho Quan Hospital".
Not only that, the hospital also preserves traces of a prison
camp that is more than 150 years old, built by the French to
detain political prisoners during the war time such as Tran Phu.
According to historical records, the prison was built in 1875
and was used as a place to detain and treat mental patients.
Later, in order to serve the purpose of interrogating
revolutionary information, the French brought prisoners to the
mental hospital to both treat them temporarily and continue to
interrogate them.
The prison is designed in a U shape. The horizontal row is 32m
long and 12m wide. The two vertical rows are equal, each row is
14m long and 7.5m wide. The building has colonial architecture
with a yin-yang roof; the walls are 4m high and 0.4m thick; the
windows have two layers of iron mesh.
The prison area is divided into two separate areas for male and
female prisoners. Each area is divided into individual and group
cells, connected by long, deep corridors. Some areas cannot
receive sunlight, causing the walls to be covered with moss, and
a few shoots of plants to sprout from the cracks.
In the individual cells, each cell has an area of only about 2
square meters, small and damp; the collective detention area
alone has an area of more than 30 square meters with a capacity
of about 20 people. Each cell has a platform to lie on. During
the French colonial period, this platform was made of wood, but
when the American came, it was replaced with cement and tiled
with terracotta. The cold platform that penetrates the skin
still retains traces of shackles and chains under the colonial
regime, making the space even more gloomy and ghostly.
The most notable point here is the cell where Tran Phu was
detained. He was arrested by the French colonialists at 66
Champagne Street (now Ly Chinh Thang Street, District 3) and
then detained and subjected to many tortures in many different
prisons, causing his health to deteriorate. The French
colonialists wanted to keep Tran Phu alive to exploit secrets,
so on August 26, 1931, they took him to the prison camp in Cho
Quan Hospital for treatment. However, due to his tuberculosis
becoming severe, Tran Phu passed away in September 1931.
In the damp, dark prison, the chains tightened his body, the
whips tore his flesh. The miserable meals, the long days within
the four walls of confinement, seemed to be able to crush his
will, although his body was tortured, his spirit remained
indomitable.
Today, in this room there is still a portrait photo of him, and
occasionally the caretakers place a vase of flowers here to
remind future generations.
In contrast to the space inside, the outside of the prison has
now become a small garden providing shade for patients being
treated at the Tropical Hospital. And perhaps they do not know
that behind those bricks, porches, and door frames are
"witnesses" to a painful period of the nation.
In 1988, this prison complex was recognized as a national
historical relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The upgrading and improvement of space, architecture and
landscape at the relic site aims to promote the value of the
relic with a space to preserve and display fine arts, meeting
the needs of visiting, researching and learning about the
history of the people of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and the
whole country in general.
Saigon travel
offers a blend of historical sites, cultural experiences, and
vibrant nightlife such as wander through Ben Thanh Market, and
enjoy the city's street food scene.
