ARQUITECTURE HERITAGE: Local students and people explore the HCM City People’s Committee and People’s Council headquarters. File photo from visithcmc.vn

HCM CITY — The HCM City plans to continue tours of the municipal People’s Committee and People’s Council headquarters until the end of this year.

The tours will be organised on the last Saturday and Sunday of each month.

Visitors have an opportunity to explore the main hall, international reception room No 1 on the ground floor, and the main staircase on the ground floor.

On the first floor, they will visit the main hall, international reception rooms No 2 and 3, meeting room No 5, and the balcony.

The tour will last an hour.

The plan aims to introduce and promote the history and development of HCM City to local and international visitors.

It is also part of the city’s programme to create unique tourism products relating to its history and culture.

The headquarters of the People’s Council and People’s Committee is among the remaining French architectural legacies of HCM City.

Located at 86 Lê Thánh Tôn Street in District 1, the building was built in 1909 based on designs by French architect Femand Gardès modelled on a belfry in northern France.

Previously known as the HCM City Hall or “L'Hôtel de Ville”, it is one of the oldest major buildings in the southern metropolis.

In 2020, the building was recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national artistic architectural heritage site.

The tours of the headquarters of the People’s Council and People’s Committee were first opened on April 29-30, 2023 to celebrate the Southern Liberation and National Reunification Day (April 30).

More than 11,000 local and foreign visitors joined the tours in 2023.

Local people and visitors can register for the tour at travel agents or the website www.visithcmc.vn. — VNS