Saigon's General Post Office; next to Notre Dame Cathedral; was built between 1886 and 1891. Designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame); the vaulted interior is reminiscent of a grand 19th century European train station.

Former Emperor B?o ?i made Saigon the capital of the State of Vietnam in 1949 with himself as head of state. After the Vi?t Minh gained control of North Vietnam in 1954; it became common to refer to the Saigon government as 'South Vietnam'.

The government was renamed the Republic of Vietnam when B?o ?i was deposed by his Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem in a fraudulent referendum in 1955. Saigon and Cholon; an adjacent city with many Sino-Vietnamese residents; were combined into an administrative unit called 恤 Th鄋h S鄆 G騨 (Capital City Saigon).

Pictures From Asia David Henley