Hỏa Lò Prison Relic

This is the Hỏa Lò Prison relic. The land was once part of Hỏa Lò village, known for making clay pots, kettles and clay stoves.

Construction began under the French in 1896. The prison came into use in 1899, before it was finished, and was completed in 1901. The French called it "Maison Centrale", or Central Prison. The original site covered 12,908 square metres and was enclosed by a wall about 4 metres high and 0.5 metres thick.

A renovation in 1913 raised its capacity to 600 inmates, but by 1954 it held more than 2,000 people. In the colonial period it held many Vietnamese political prisoners.

After the 1954 Geneva Accords, the prison came under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the Vietnam War it held American prisoners of war, many of them pilots. The first to be sent here was Everett Alvarez Jr., shot down on 5 August 1964. American prisoners called it the "Hanoi Hilton".

In 1993 most of the prison was demolished, and the Hanoi Towers buildings were built on the site. The remaining area of a little over 2,000 square metres was recognized as a historic relic in 1997. Inside, you can see a guillotine from the French period, exhibits on the lives of prisoners, and a section about the American prisoners of war.