Chân Tiên Pagoda

According to legend, the pagoda was founded during the reign of King Lý Thánh Tông (12th century) and was named Báo Thiên Pagoda in Tiên Thị Village (the area of the Large Cathedral). By the 18th century, the pagoda was moved to An Phụ Village, also called Phụ Khánh (the area of today's Thợ Nhuộm – Lý Thường Kiệt streets). During the era of the Trịnh lords, the pagoda was a place of worship for Tống Thiên Thần Vương, a person who helped Trịnh Liễu choose an auspicious site. At the end of the 19th century, when the French colonialists built the Hỏa Lò prison, Chân Tiên Pagoda and Phụ Khánh Communal House were moved to their current location.
Chân Tiên Pagoda consists of the following architectural components: a three-entrance gate; the front hall and upper sanctuary; the Ancestor Hall; the Mother Goddess Hall; the monks' quarters and a stupa garden. The pagoda still preserves a number of typical relics and antiquities, such as: a set of 57 round statues created from the Lê to the Nguyễn dynasties; the stele “Phụ Khánh Chân Tiên bi ký” erected in the Tân Sửu year, the 13th year of Thành Thái (1901), recording the restoration and repair of the pagoda and Phụ Khánh Communal House; 12 donor steles, 6 bronze bells, 237 woodblocks for printing Buddhist sutras, and some carved panels on the architecture, relics, and ritual objects bearing the artistic style of the 18th and 19th centuries.
In addition, it is said that Chân Tiên Pagoda was the site of the Đông Quan Oath Ceremony in 1427. Every year, on the 22nd day of the 11th lunar month, the commemoration of the Đông Quan Oath Ceremony is held at Chân Tiên Pagoda to recall historical traditions and promote the historical value and the patriotic and peace-loving spirit of our nation.
On March 2, 1990, Chân Tiên Pagoda together with Phụ Khánh Communal House (a complex of relics at 151 Bà Triệu Street) was recognized as a National-level Architectural and Artistic Monument.