Paris Commune Square (Saigon)

Paris Commune Square is a small square and roundabout located in Sài Gòn ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It lies between Lê Duẩn Boulevard and Nguyễn Du Street and surrounds the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. This is also the starting point of the famous Đồng Khởi Street. The square is surrounded by two remarkable architectural works: Notre-Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office, and as both the construction are located here, the square is also marked as the city's kilometre zero.

History

The square was originally named Place de la Cathédrale dated back to the French colonial period. In 1903, the colonial government erected a bronze statue of French Catholic priest Pierre Pigneau de Béhaine and juvenile Prince Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh in the center of the garden in front of the cathedral, and the square is thus known as Place Pigneau de Béhaine. It was brought down in October 1945 leaving behind an empty statue pedestal. There was no statue on the site until 1959 under the First Republic of Vietnam, when a new statue of Our Lady of Peace was erected in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The square itself was called Hòa Bình Square. In May 1964, the South Vietnamese government renamed it President John F. Kennedy Square honoring the same name assassinated U.S. President. After the Fall of Saigon, the square was renamed Công trường Công xã Paris by the Provisional Revolutionary Government.

List of buildings surround the square, the buildings does not have the street name is bearing the square as its address