President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site in Kim Lien

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Introduction

The place preserving 15 years of Uncle Ho's simple living and working

Located right behind President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, amid the green space of Ba Dinh District, the President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site at the Presidential Palace is where Uncle Ho lived and worked from December 19, 1954 to September 2, 1969. On an area of more than 10 hectares, small houses, gardens, and fish ponds are still preserved almost intact, retelling the story of a simple lifestyle, close to nature, and attached to the people.

After taking over the capital, Uncle Ho came to live and work within the grounds of the former French Indochina Governor-General's Palace. He refused to stay in the luxurious Governor-General's Palace building, reserving it for receiving guests and holding government meetings, while choosing to live in small, simple houses. Over 15 years, Uncle Ho lived successively in House 54, the stilt house, and in his final days in House 67. On August 12, 2009, the relic site was ranked a Special National Relic by the Prime Minister.

The yellow Presidential Palace building, which Uncle Ho used to receive guests and hold government meetings. Collected photo

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Story

01Don't miss

Visit the stilt house , the simple wooden house where Uncle Ho lived and worked the longest, from 1958 to 1969.
Stroll along the mango road shaded path leading to the stilt house area.
View the fish pond where Uncle Ho raised fish and set aside for children to play when they visited.
See the bookshelf in Uncle Ho's office , his most numerous "asset" in the stilt house.
Combine visiting Uncle Ho's Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh Museum, and One Pillar Pagoda right within the same complex.

02Notable attractions

03Presidential Palace – Where international guests are received

The building was constructed from 1901 to 1906; during French colonial rule, it served as the residence and workplace of the French Governor-General of Indochina. After 1954, Uncle Ho decided not to live there but used the building for receiving state guests and holding government meetings. With French-style architecture and its distinctive yellow color, the Presidential Palace remains a representative landmark in the heart of Ba Dinh.

Caption: The Presidential Palace, a French architectural work from the early 20th century in the heart of Ba Dinh.

04House 54 – The early years in Hanoi

From 1954 to 1958, Uncle Ho lived and worked in a small one-story house about 100m². Today it preserves nearly 400 documents and artifacts associated with his daily life. The simple utensils reflect the simplicity of the President.

The small one-story house where Uncle Ho lived in the first years after the takeover of the capital. Archived photo

05Stilt House, Garden, and Fish Pond – Bringing Viet Bac to the Heart of the Capital

The stilt house was begun on April 15, 1958, and completed on May 17, 1958; architect Nguyen Van Ninh designed it according to Uncle Ho's wishes: a small house just enough for one person, made of ordinary wood, with an open ground floor. The ground floor was where Uncle Ho received guests and held Politburo meetings; the upper floor included a workroom and a bedroom, each only about 10m². Furnishings were just a single blanket, a sedge mat, a palm-leaf fan, a typewriter, and hundreds of books. Around the house were a garden with jasmine, ngau, tuberose, orange, pomelo, and mango trees and a fish pond that Uncle Ho cared for. He lived here for more than 11 years, the longest period he stayed in one place during his revolutionary life.

The simple wooden stilt house reflected beside the fish pond, bringing the breath of the Viet Bac mountains and forests to the heart of the capital. Archived photo

House 67 – The final days of Uncle Ho's life

The house was built in 1967 next to the stilt house. It was where Uncle Ho worked and received treatment in the final years of his life, and also where he breathed his last on September 2, 1969. The house still preserves nearly 100 documents and artifacts.

House 67, where the last memories of Uncle Ho are preserved. Archived photo

President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site in Kim Lien

Introduction

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