HCMC History Museum

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History is a national history museum on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The museum chronicles Vietnamese history from the prehistoric period until the end of the Nguyễn Dynasty in 1945. It stands within the grounds of the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The building was the first museum established in the south of Vietnam.

The institution opened in January 1929 as the Musée Blanchard de la Brosse. French architect Auguste Delaval designed the original building. The structure incorporates Indochinese architectural elements with French colonial design. It was later known as the National Museum of Vietnam in Saigon. The museum received its current name in 1979. In 2012, the building gained recognition as a National Architectural and Artistic Monument.

The museum’s collection contains approximately 40,000 artifacts. The permanent exhibitions are arranged chronologically across multiple rooms. Galleries display artifacts from prehistoric eras and the Metal Age. Collections represent ancient cultures, including the Dong Son, Sa Huỳnh, and Óc Eo cultures. The museum also holds a significant collection of Champa sculpture and artifacts. Other galleries cover the periods of Chinese domination and successive Vietnamese dynasties like the Lý, Trần, and Lê.

The final exhibition rooms feature items from the Nguyễn Dynasty, Vietnam’s last imperial family. The museum holds several designated National Treasures of Vietnam. In addition to its permanent displays, the institution hosts special thematic exhibitions. A small water puppet theater also operates on the museum grounds, presenting traditional performances.