5 Best Sights in Vietnam

It took 24 years (from 1875 to 1898) to build Phat Diem Cathedral, a complex comprising a lake, a cathedral, a stone church, Phuong Dinh (bell house), and three artificial grottoes. The cathedral, a hulking edifice made of local stone and hardwood, was designed by a Vietnamese priest named Father Sau, who died the same year the cathedral was completed. He is now interred in the narrow courtyard behind the bell tower, which was immortalized by Graham Greene in a description of a battle that took place here between French and Vietnamese forces in The Quiet American. The third floor of this tower supports a two-ton bronze bell that purportedly can be heard from 10 km (6 miles) away. The cathedral is flanked on both sides by four small chapels, all built in the late 19th century and dedicated to various saints. The prayer hall is a wooden marvel; almost the entire interior is made of Vietnamese ironwood, with 48 massive pillars supporting arched ceiling beams in what is truly an artist's loving creation. The curved eaves are a nod to Sino-Vietnamese architecture, but the crosses and saints (all sitting in the lotus position) reflect the fervor of the 150,000-strong congregation. Many of Phat Diem's Catholics fled to the south in 1954 when Vietnam was divided. A great deal of restoration work has been done on the complex, which was bombed heavily by American B-52s in 1972.

Catholicism has experienced a comeback in these parts, and because a more liberal tone has been adopted toward religion by Hanoi, Sunday Mass is now extremely popular. Services are held at 5 and 9 am, and by 10 everyone's already out in the fields. On holidays such as Christmas and Easter, expect crowds of 10,000 or more.

This 1930s Gothic-Romanesque cathedral seems an anachronism in a small Mekong Delta town, but it's a reminder of Vietnam's colonial past and the fact that Catholicism is the country's second-largest foreign religion, with Buddhism being the largest. The bell tower stands 171 feet tall and its bells, which were cast in France, weigh a whopping 400–2,000 kilos (880–4,400 lbs.).

Haiphong's pagodas are tucked into the city's alleyways or off in the suburbs; no major religious structures except the city's main Catholic cathedral stand out in the middle of town. The cathedral was built in 1880 by missionaries from Spain. Regular Masses are still held.

The imposing square towers of this cathedral rise up from a small square near Hoan Kiem Lake on the edge of the Old Quarter. French missionaries built the cathedral in the late 19th century and celebrated the first Mass here on Christmas Day 1886. It feels as though nothing has changed since then—the liturgy has not been modernized since the cathedral was built. The small but beautiful panes of stained glass were created in Paris in 1906. Also of note is the ornate altar, with its high gilded side walls. The government closed down the cathedral in 1975, but when it reopened 10 years later the number of returning devotees was substantial. Enter the cathedral through a small door on a street to the left.

French missionaries first came to Kon Tum in 1851. Completed in 1918, the wooden cathedral features a Roman Catholic basilica with subtle architectural references to Bahnar wooden homes that are built on stilts. It miraculously survived wartime bombardment and the intense three-week Battle of Kon Tum. Visit during mass to hear hymns sung in the Bahnar language.