Tao Đàn Park
Tao Đàn Park or fully known as Tao Đàn Cultural Park, also known as Tao Đàn Garden is an urban park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam behind the Independence Palace with an address 55C Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Bến Thành. It is one of the largest parks in the city, covering 10 hectares. Part of the park will be used for the entrance of the underground Ho Chi Minh City Metro's Tao Dan Station for Line 2 and 3.
History
The whole park was the garden of the Saigon Governor's Palace of France. In 1869, when the French Miss Clavell Street, the left three roads adjacent to the park are rue Chasseloup-Laubat in the north, rue Verdun in the west, and rue Taberd in the south, the Trương Định Street goes through the park was opened after 1957 in the South Vietnam era, it was renamed from rue Admiral Roze and connected with rue Lareyniere.After the separation from the palace and renamed Jardin de la 'Ville, but the Vietnamese people prefer to called it as Vườn Ông Thượng or Vườn Bồ-Rô, maybe it was taken from préau.
Next, the city built additional facilities in the garden for the Philharmonic Society in 1896, the Freemasonry in 1897, and the Saigon Sports Circle in 1902 including a football pitch, a swimming pool, and tennis court. At the time, that football pitch was the only one that met the standards to host foreign teams. In 1926, at the corner of Chasseloup-Laubat and Verdun streets, the government built an Institute of Childcare to educate children. After the French Indochina is over in Vietnam, The Governor-General's Palace became the Presidential Palace, and the garden was renamed Tao Đàn Garden'. The four surrounding streets were also renamed Huyền Trân Công Chúa Street, Hồng Thập Tự Street, Lê Văn Duyệt Street, and Nguyễn Du Street in the South Vietnam time. The Institute of Childcare was used as the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Vietnam era and now is the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health. The garden remains the central park of the city.