St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi

The cathedral is situated west of Hoàn Kiếm Lake,{{cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia On A Budget|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blOJhyGSjtwC&pg=PA917|access-date=30 May 2013|date=15 November 2010|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-4053-8686-9|pages=917–}} in a small square within the Old Quarter. Located at the end of the Nhà Thờ Street and the corner of Nhà Chung Street,{{cite book|last=Downs|first=Tom|title=Hanoi & Halong Bay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIFzI-el3zgC&pg=PA58|access-date=30 May 2013|year=2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74179-092-4|pages=58–}} is an upscale market area with boutiques and silks, popular with tourists as well as restaurants and small apartment blocks.{{cite book|last=Lucus|first=Paul|title=Ho Chi Minh Noodles and the Trail Through Vietnam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGZqMyIS3nAC&pg=PA13|access-date=30 May 2013|date=June 2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4678-9098-4|pages=13–}} The cathedral is also the headquarters of Archdiocese of Vietnam; it controls over 480 churches and chapels and 113 parishes, and serves 400,000 Catholics. The cathedral's main gates are generally only opened during Mass; at other times, entry is allowed through a side door in the compound wall of the diocese, after which a bell can be rung to enter the cathedral proper.

In November 1873, acting in support of the French trader Jean Dupuis, French troops under the command of Lieutenant Francis Garnier captured the Hanoi Citadel, before conquering the rest of the city. A decade passed before the colonists gained full control of Hanoi due to rebel insurgencies.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIFzI-el3zgC&pg=PA135|title=Hanoi & Halong Bay|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2007|last=Downs|first=Tom|pages=203|isbn=9781741790924}} Construction of the cathedral most likely started after this time and it was completed in December 1886,{{cite news|title=French impressions|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/25/travel/tr-hanoi25/2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116143512/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/25/travel/tr-hanoi25/2|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 16, 2014|date=May 25, 2008|page=2|access-date=May 29, 2013|first=Susan|last=Spano|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}} a year before the federation of French Indochina was established as part of its colonial empire.{{cite web|title=History of Vietnam|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam/history|access-date=May 29, 2013|publisher=Lonely Planet}} It was built by the French missionary and apostolic vicar of West Tonkin Paul-François Puginier, who obtained permission from the colonial French administration.{{cite book|author=James Sullivan|title=National Geographic Traveler: Vietnam, 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8cRgWpCXUoC&pg=PA68|date=16 February 2010|publisher=National Geographic Society|isbn=978-1-4262-0522-4|pages=68}}

{{cite journal|last1=Michaud|first1=Jean|title=French Missionary Expansion in Colonial Upper Tonkin|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|volume=35|issue=2|year=2004|issn=0022-4634|doi=10.1017/S0022463404000153|url=http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/cms/upload/ant/fichiers/livre_michaud_frrench.pdf|page=294 |s2cid=56014378 }} It was built on the abandoned site{{cite web|url=https://thuvienhoasen.org/a11435/chua-bao-thien-va-thap-dai-thang-tu-thien-nguyen-quoc-tuan|title=Chùa Báo Thiên và Tháp Đại Thắng Tư Thiên|author=Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn|year=2008|website=}} of Báo Thiên Pagoda.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEa9Ryqf3CgC&pg=PA75|title=International Heritage and Historic Building Conservation: Saving the World's Past|publisher=Routledge|date=March 5, 2013|last=Aygen|first=Zeynep|pages=75|isbn=9780415888141}} This location was part of an "administrative center" of Tonkin before the French colonial era.{{cite news|title=French impressions|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-25-tr-hanoi25-story.html|date=May 25, 2008|page=1|access-date=May 29, 2013|first=Susan|last=Spano|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}} In order to facilitate the construction of the church, the ruins of the pagoda - which was built when the city was founded by the 11th-century Lý dynasty and had collapsed in 1542, never to be repaired - were cleared.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/hanoicityofrisin0000boud|url-access=registration|title=Hanoi: City of the Rising Dragon|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2002|last1=Boudarel|first1=Georges|last2=Nguyễn|first2=Văn Ký|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hanoicityofrisin0000boud/page/n78 49]}} The cathedral was consecrated on December 24, 1886.

After the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam following the Geneva Accords in 1954, the Catholic Church suffered decades of persecution. Priests were arrested, and church property was seized and expropriated.{{cite encyclopedia|editor-first=Spencer C.|editor-last=Tucker|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History|title=Catholicism in Vietnam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&pg=PA177|access-date=May 29, 2013|date=May 20, 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851099610}} St. Joseph's Cathedral was not spared; it was closed down until Christmas Eve of 1990, when Mass was permitted to be celebrated there again.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1YwOau1RgAC&pg=PT781|title=The Rough Guide to Vietnam|publisher=Rough Guides UK|date=October 1, 2009|last1=Lewis|first1=Mark|last2=Dodd|first2=Jan|last3=Emmons|first3=Ron|isbn=9781405380218}} In 2008, protests related to religious symbols occurred at the lot next to the cathedral.{{cite book|last=Kurfurst|first=Sandra|title=Redefining Public Space in Hanoi: Places, Practices and Meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHMsEI3FVKcC&pg=PA115|access-date=30 May 2013|year=2012|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-90271-9|pages=115–}}

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Built with stone slabs and in brick with concrete facing, the façade consists of two towers, square in shape, rising to a height of {{convert|103|ft|abbr=on}}, with each tower fitted with five bells. The cathedral was built in a Gothic Revival (Neo-Gothic) style.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/19/travel/asia-pacific-issue-moderne-lives-on-in-a-colonial-city.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Asia-Pacific Issue; 'Moderne' Lives On In a Colonial City|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Katherine|last=Ashenburg|date=April 19, 1998|access-date=May 30, 2013}} The twin bell towers have often drawn comparison to those at Notre Dame de Paris;{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIFzI-el3zgC&pg=PA58|title=Hanoi & Halong Bay|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2007|last=Downs|first=Tom|pages=58|isbn=9781741790924}} the architects of St. Joseph's sought to emulate its Parisian counterpart. The exterior walls of the church are made of granite stone slabs.{{cite news|title=Order Of Worship: Vietnam Keeping Controls On Religious Revival|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EEED7CF67125A2F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|date=December 10, 1995|access-date=May 30, 2013|page=12C|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|publisher=Los Angeles Times}} {{subscription required}} Over the years, the cathedral's exterior has become severely worn down due to heavy pollution.{{cite news|title=New life amid the mayhem – Vietnam|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SNHB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=12BDA0721F77F438&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=105B9A93AF33E3E3|date=November 8, 2009|access-date=May 30, 2013|page=16|first=Steve|last=McKenna|newspaper=The Sun Herald|location=Sydney}} {{subscription required}} In response, the cathedral underwent major renovation works between July 2020 and May 2022, restoring its external appearance and structural integrity.

{{cite news|title=Hai công trình ở Hà Nội vừa “lột xác” ngoạn mục: Nhà Thờ Lớn phục hồi vẻ hoài cổ, một phố đi bộ mới đang cực hot|url=https://kenh14.vn/hai-cong-trinh-o-ha-noi-vua-lot-xac-ngoan-muc-nha-tho-lon-phuc-hoi-ve-hoai-co-mot-pho-di-bo-moi-dang-cuc-hot-20220522120058439.chn|date=May 23, 2022|access-date=Nov 24, 2022|first=Gia|last=Hiển|newspaper=Kênh 14}}

Windows are fitted with tall stained glass and have pointed arches. The cathedral's stained glass windows were produced in France before being transported to Vietnam. The ceiling is rib-vaulted like those seen in medieval Europe. The nave is weathered, while the sanctuary is made of polished gilt-trimmed wood, similar to that of Phát Diệm Cathedral, and has architectural embellishments in the imperial Huế style. A statue of the Virgin Mary is kept in a palanquin according to local custom, which is seen to the left of the nave. A pipe organ designed by the Belgian craftsman Guido Schumacher, was installed in the cathedral on 23 November, 2022, as part of a cultural exchange project between Itami in Japan and Hasselt in Belgium. The instrument has 1,850 pipes.{{Cite web |date=28 November 2022 |title=Grand organ from Japan installed in Hanoi cathedral |url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/grand-organ-from-japan-installed-in-hanoi-cathedral/99548 |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=UCA News |language=en}}

{{Commons category|St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi}}

• Catholic Church in Vietnam

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [https://chinhtoa.tgphanoi.org/ Official website of St. Joseph's Cathedral] (Vietnamese)
• [https://www.tonggiaophanhanoi.org/ Official website of the Archdiocese of Hanoi] (Vietnamese)

{{Commons category|St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi}}

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Category:Roman Catholic churches in Hanoi

Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1886

Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Vietnam

Category:French colonial architecture in Vietnam

Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in Vietnam

Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in Vietnam

Category:Conversion of non-Christian religious buildings and structures into churches