LATEST NEWS: Crossing Travel
top of page

Crossing is chocolates in bed

Crossing in real life.

I had a wonderful trip to Russia and loved both of the hotels recommended and booked by you.  Thank you for your wonderful service in making last minute changes to my bookings and always following up on my trip.  I would highly recommend your service and have recommended to friends. 

Shahzad Malik

Owner, The Fort Printers, Sri Lanka

Reviews
About us

Crossing serves travel for the modern day traveler: you.

As frequent travelers, we were unsatisfied with the industry. Technology brought an

overabundance or information, and agencies don’t understand today’s traveler.

We decided to recreate. We’ve combined the best technology available with customer obsessed advisors to create truly memorable trips.

Every trip starts from the ground up - no one trip looks the same. And we pride ourselves on high touch service, staying on hand through the entirety of your trip. Traveling with Crossing is an experience in and of itself.

We take a holistic view of travel and are obsessive over details. Travel isn’t a transaction. Its a present, always changing experience, and we pride ourselves in our ability to curate that experience and adapt to change.

Contact Us
Let Us Get in Touch with You

Look out for a message from us

Traveling will never be the same 
Follow us on
bottom of page

Duc Ba Cathedral

Duc Ba Cathedral

The cathedral is composed of two main central bays with two sidereal corridors, with tall pillars and light coming in through sets of high windows, and a semi-circular shrine.

Location: Duc Ba Cathedral is located on Han Thuyen Street, facing down Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Characteristic: The resplendent Governors Palace, completed in 1875, symbolized the regimes political power in Asia. And five years later, the Duc Ba (Our Ladys) Cathedral was inaugurated, and became the spiritual and cultural crucible of the French presence in the Orient.

After the first French colonizing force arrived in Vietnam in the mid – 19thcentury, it took only 21 years before the country had a cathedral to match the hulking Gothic edifices of France itself. The cathedral is supposed to represent the glory of the French Empire. Yet, as is always the case with colonization, this attempt to import French traditions into Vietnam transformed the colonizers culture in the process. Even though the cathedral is built in a Western architectural style, it has a uniquely Eastern aspect. Several architects put forward design proposals for the cathedral, but in 1877 the authorities selected Mr Bourard, who was famed for his religious architecture. He envisaged, and executed, a basilica-like structure with a square plan. The cathedral is composed of two main central bays with two sidereal corridors, with tall pillars and light coming in through sets of high windows, and a semi-circular shrine. The style follows a Roman pattern, although the outside contains some modifications: the cathedrals vaults are Gothic, and a modern steel skeleton supports the whole building. In 1894 a pointed minaret was added to the bell tower, at the behest of an architect named Gardes, who was also responsible for the Xa Tay Palace, the building that now houses the Municipal Peoples Committee. The cathedral is a much smaller than those in France, but it was the largest in the French empire. The interior is very large: the principal shrine and two additional bays are 93m long, and reach 35m in width at one point. The semi-circular shrine at the rear seats a choir during services, and there are five chapels.

The walls are made of Bien Hoa granite, combined with red tiles from Marseilles, all without coating. Red tiles from France were also used on the roofs, but they were later replaced with tiles of equal quality from Phu Huu. Natural light streams in through stained-glass windows which were made by the Lorin Company from the French town of Sartre. The whole building is well-ventilated thanks to a system of air-holes placed above and under the windows. The belfry is 57m high. For a long time it was the highest structure in the city centre, and was the first thing an arriving traveller would see when approaching the city by boat. Six bells weigh a combined 25,850kg. In 1885, the floor was taken apart and new pillars were added, because the original foundation could not bear the cathedrals weight. Stepping inside the cathedral, tourists see a line of Chinese characters eulogizing the Jesus mother, “the innocent and unblemished Virgin Mother”, and stained-glass portraits of Vietnamese believers amid Asiatic plants. On the square in front of the cathedral, there is a statue of the Virgin Mother made of white marble, symbolizing peace. All told, it’s an unusual building: a Western architectural and religious style that has been transplanted into, and adapted to, the East. The colonizers were trying to impose French beliefs and customs onto Vietnam but once that culture arrived on Asia’s shores, it took on a life of its own. The cathedral is seen as a unique synthesis, adding an unmistakable Oriental flavour to an ancient Occidental recipe.

Sapa Budget Tours

Sapa Trekking and Adventures

Sapa Cycling Options

Sapa Luxury Holidays

Traditional Minority Discovery Packages

Sapa Classic Trips

Northern Mountain Discovery Packages

Topas Ecolodge Sapa tours

Top hotels in Sapa

Vietnam Top Hotel

Ha Long Bay Cruise

thiet ke website

Explus
Train to Sapa