Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

The President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (Vietnamese: Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh) is a mausoleum which serves as the resting place of Vietnamese Revolutionary leader & President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a large building located in the center of Ba Dinh Square, where Ho, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam from 1951 until his death in 1969, read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It is also known as Ba Đình Mausoleum (Vietnamese: Lăng Ba Đình) and is open to the public.

Dress modestly: wearing shorts, tank tops or hats is not permitted. You may be requested to store day packs, cameras and phones before you enter. Talking, putting your hand in your pockets and photography is strictly prohibited in the mausoleum. The queue usually snakes for several hundred metres to the mausoleum entrance and inside, filing past Ho’s body at a slow but steady pace.

If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the changing of the guard outside Ho’s mausoleum – the pomp and ceremony displayed here rivals the British equivalent at Buckingham Palace.

Building
Construction work began on September 2, 1973, and the mausoleum was formally inaugurated on August 29, 1975. It was inspired by Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow but incorporates distinct Vietnamese architectural elements, such as the sloping roof. The exterior is made of grey granite, while the interior is grey, black and red polished stone. The mausoleum's portico has the words "Chủ tịch Hồ-Chí-Minh" (President Ho Chi Minh) inscribed across it. The banner beside says "Nước Cộng Hòa Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam Muôn Năm" (en: "Long live The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam").

The structure is 21.6 meters (70.9 feet) high and 41.2 meters (135.2 feet) wide. Flanking the mausoleum are two platforms with seven steps for parade viewing. The plaza in front of the mausoleum is divided into 240 green squares separated by pathways. The gardens surrounding the mausoleum have nearly 250 different species of plants and flowers, all from different regions of Vietnam.

The embalmed body of President Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the cooler, central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honour guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lights. The mausoleum is generally open to the public.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

• Address: 2 Hùng Vương, Điện Bàn, Ba Đình, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
• Opened: August 29, 1975
• Height: 22 m
• Open Hours: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
• Phone: +84 24 3845 5128