Bạch Đằng Quay

According to scholar Pétrus Ký, the waterfront area at the end of rue Catinat was once called Bến Ngự (translating to "royal wharf"), the royal landing stage. He also revealed that it was known in Khmer as Compong-luong,{{Cite book |last=Trương |first=Jean Baptiste Pétrus Vĩnh Ký |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57906148/f23.image |title=Souvenirs historiques sur Saïgon et ses environs: conférence faite au collège des interprètes |publisher=Imprimerie coloniale |year=1885 |location=Saigon |pages=18 |language=fr |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709094111/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57906148/f23.image |url-status=live }} which suggests that its history may date back to the 17th century, when Saigon was still the Cambodian settlement of Prey Nokor.{{Cite web |last=Doling |first=Tim |date=11 March 2018 |title=A Short History of Saigon Port |url=https://www.historicvietnam.com/short-history-saigon-port/ |website=Historic Vietnam |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019230943/https://www.historicvietnam.com/short-history-saigon-port/ |url-status=live }}

During the early years of French colonial rule, the Mercantile port of Saigon continued to use wharves immediately north of the arroyo Chinois extending as far as the Rond-point (modern-day Mê Linh Square). However, in 1881, these wharves were transformed into the River port and were entrusted to the management of the Compagnies des Messageries fluviales (the River Shipping Company), the replacement mercantile port was constructed in Khánh Hội (modern-day District 4). This quayside area had its name changed quite often throughout the French colonial period. Initially quai de Donnai, the name was successively changed to quai Napoléon (1865), quai du Commerce (1870), quai Francis Garnier (1896) and finally quai le Myre de Vilers (1920).{{Cite book |last=Baudrit |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRQOAQAAIAAJ |title=Guide historique des rues de Saigon |publisher=S.I.L.I. |year=1943 |publication-place=Saigon |language=fr |access-date=29 October 2023 |archive-date=3 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103071831/https://books.google.com/books?id=GRQOAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}{{rp|300}} On 11 August 1890, the Lieutenant-Governor of Cochinchina authorized the installation of a tramway track along the quay.{{Cite journal |date=1890 |title=Arrêté autorisant la Société générale des tramways à vapeur de Cochinchine à établir un passage à niveau, une plaque tournante et une voie parallèle sur le quai du Commerce |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6465381v/f40.item |journal=Bulletin officiel de l'Indochine française, Première partie, Cochinchine et Cambodge, année 1890, n°8 |language=fr |pages=724 |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=20 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020034636/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6465381v/f40.item |url-status=live }}

Additionally, the quayside north of the River port and the Rond-point was used as the Naval port (Port de la marine) and controlled by the French Navy (Marine nationale française). This quay, initially called quai Primauguet and then changed to quai d'Argonne in 1920,{{rp|87}} housed the Naval Commander’s headquarters (Hôtel du Commandant de la Marine), the Naval Artillery (Artillerie de Marine) and the Naval Barracks (Caserne de la Marine, later Caserne Francis-Garnier). The Saigon Naval Shipyard is located immediately north of the quay and stretches as far as the mouth of the arroyo de l’Avalanche.

After the departure of the French, the River port was taken over by the Saigon Port Authority (Nha Thương cảng Sài Gòn). Meanwhile, the Naval port was managed first by the Republic of Vietnam and later by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministries of Defence. Both quai le Myre de Vilers and quai d'Argonne were given a single Vietnamese name, Bến Bạch Đằng, by the South Vietnamese government in 1955.{{Cite book |last1=Guillaume |first1=Xavier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92swPSNgnycC |title=La Terre du Dragon – Tome I |last2=Guillaume |first2=Marie-Christine |publisher=Publibook |year=2004 |publication-place=Paris |pages=62 |language=fr |access-date=29 October 2023 |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110160846/https://books.google.com/books?id=92swPSNgnycC |url-status=live }}

The colonial naval barracks and artillery buildings continued to be used by naval personnel until the 1990s, but since that time the old artillery compound has been demolished to redevelop new hotels and office blocks. The former Caserne Francis Garnier barracks, now located at 1A Tôn Đức Thắng, is the only surviving operational naval installation in this area.

In 2015, the government of Ho Chi Minh City decided to close the River port at Bach Dang Quay to renovate the wharf and park.{{Cite web |date=17 January 2015 |title=Ho Chi Minh City extends operation of Bach Dang Wharf at last minute |url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20150117/ho-chi-minh-city-extends-operation-of-bach-dang-wharf-at-last-minute/23100.html |website=Tuoi Tre News |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019230949/https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20150117/ho-chi-minh-city-extends-operation-of-bach-dang-wharf-at-last-minute/23100.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=5 December 2016 |title=Wharf closure leaves Saigon river tours 'grounded' |url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/audio/20161205/wharf-closure-leaves-saigon-river-tours-grounded/5951.html |website=Tuoi Tre News |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019230945/https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/audio/20161205/wharf-closure-leaves-saigon-river-tours-grounded/5951.html |url-status=live }} In the same year, the Naval port was also closed following the relocation of the Ba Son Shipyard to Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province.{{Cite journal |last=Thayer |first=Carlyle A. |date=2018 |title=Force Modernization: Vietnam |journal=Southeast Asian Affairs |pages=439 |jstor=26492790}} The renovation of the area was eventually carried out in 2021{{Cite web |date=26 May 2021 |title=Ho Chi Minh City to move, fell 178 trees in downtown park |url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210526/ho-chi-minh-city-to-move-fell-178-trees-in-downtown-park/61160.html |website=Tuoi Tre News |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019232515/https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210526/ho-chi-minh-city-to-move-fell-178-trees-in-downtown-park/61160.html |url-status=live }} and completed in 2022, which gave the park its current appearance with the grass areas and walkways forming the shape of lotus flowers.{{Cite web |last1=Duy Khang |last2=Le Phan |date=17 March 2022 |title=Newly renovated parks inaugurated in downtown Ho Chi Minh City |url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20220317/newly-renovated-parks-inaugurated-in-downtown-ho-chi-minh-city/66210.html |website=Tuoi Tre News |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019232612/https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20220317/newly-renovated-parks-inaugurated-in-downtown-ho-chi-minh-city/66210.html |url-status=live }} According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transportation, by the end of 2022, the only inland waterway transport services being operated at Bach Dang Quay are the Saigon Waterbus and the hydrofoil service to Vũng Tàu.{{Cite web |last1=Thu Dung |last2=Lưu Duyên |date=20 December 2022 |title=Cầu tàu công viên bến Bạch Đằng và cầu tàu Ba Son sẽ khai thác ra sao? |url=https://tuoitre.vn/cau-tau-cong-vien-ben-bach-dang-va-cau-tau-ba-son-se-khai-thac-ra-sao-20221220192732466.htm |website=TuoiTre Online |language=vi |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004152525/https://tuoitre.vn/cau-tau-cong-vien-ben-bach-dang-va-cau-tau-ba-son-se-khai-thac-ra-sao-20221220192732466.htm |url-status=live }}

File:Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson, 1867. Wellcome L0056137.jpg|View of the quay in 1867

File:Saïgon - Vue panoramique des Quais et la Rivière de Saïgon.jpg|View of the quay in early 20th century

File:NH 79671 Saigon, South Vietnam.jpg|View of the Navy port in 1956

File:Saigon Floating Hotel 1991.jpg|Saigon Floating Hotel near Tran Hung Dao statue in 1991

File:Vietnam - panoramio (232).jpg|Floating restaurants at Bach Dang Quay in 2015

File:Cột cờ Thủ Ngữ.JPG|Thủ Ngữ flagpole, behind is the ventilation tower of Thủ Thiêm Tunnel

File:Me Linh Square, HCMC.jpg|Statue of Saint Trần Hưng Đạo at Mê Linh square in 2012

File:Bach Dang Station - Sai Gon Water Bus.jpg|Saigon Waterbus, Bạch Đằng station

File:Ton Duc Thang quan 1 tphcmvn - panoramio.jpg|Tôn Đức Thắng Street in 2013

File:Ton Duc Thang street- Ben Bach Dang saigon-Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam - panoramio.jpg|Tôn Đức Thắng Street in 2015

• Mê Linh Square
• Saigon Naval Shipyard
• Tôn Đức Thắng Boulevard

{{reflist}}

• {{Commonscat-inline|Bach Dang Quay}}

Category:Parks in Ho Chi Minh City

Category:Saigon River

Category:Wharves