Dalat Palace I, II, III

This palace has been a large one in Tran Quang Dieu street, ward 10, Dalat city. It is 4km far from the citycenter to the southeast. It is located on a 1,550-meter hill with full of pine trees. Its total area is about 60ha with the average slope of 500. It used to be a villa of a French millionaire who was also an official - Robert Clément Bourgery. He had been the boss of electricity factory in Shanghai. The palace was built before 1940s in the middle of the pine tree forest.

After that, in 1949, King Bao Dai bought it in August 1949 and renewed it. Since then, it had become a general headquarters and an office for his subordinateofficers. Until 1956, Mr. Ngo Dinh Diem used it as a private palace for President. It was upgraded with tunnel and some more working rooms for hissubordinate officers. The tunnel was also the emergency exit which opened a small heliport.

Palace 1 is one of the original architecture products of Dalat which expresses the new-classis style of the Europe.

Palace II

This Palace was the summer palace, the residence and the office of governor Decoux. It is located on a hill with the elevation of 1,539m which is between Tran Hung Dao and Khoi Nghia Bac Son street. It has an area of 26 ha, in which the palace is 10 ha and the campus is 16ha.

The palace has 25 luxurious rooms. It was designed by architects A.T. Kruzé, D. Veyssere and A. Leonard and decorated by P. Foinet. It had been built from 1933 to 1937. It architecture looked like the European style.

Especially, it was the first work which was covered with the bright stones on the outside wall. Other parts built with French metal instead of wood. When Decoux used it as the Governor palace, he commanded to open some concrete tunnels in order to protect him and his family. These tunnels were 1.5m wide and 1m high leading to the wine-cellar.

This palace is one of the beautiful architectures of Dalat. It has contained itself plenty of milestones about the history of the country. After 1975, it became the Central guest house and now it is the guest house of the People's Committee of Lamdong province.

Palace III

This had been the Palace of King Bao Dai, the last king of Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam when the French helped him retake power from 1948 and established the Royal Territory in 1950.

The construction was designed by architect Huynh Tan Phat and a French architect and was built from 1933 to 1938. It is located on a hill with pine trees and at the elevation of 1,539m above sea level. The first floor is used for Bao Dai's office, library, relaxation room and a big dining room. The second floor includes bedrooms for King, Queen, princesses and princes. Besides Bao Dai's bedroom, there is a moon-watching balcony where the king would come to enjoy the moon.

Wood was the main materials used for building and decorating this palace. This palace is a beautiful architecture which witnessed the special history process of Vietnam. Now it becomes a famous destination for foreign and domestic tourists.

Add: No. 1 Trieu Viet Vuong street, Dalat city.

Joseph Nguyễn

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