Nha Trang Cathedral

Building on Bong hill

Catholics in Nha Trang numbered a few hundred at the end of the nineteenth century, around 1885^[1]. In 1886 the French colonial administration established its offices in the town, and a small chapel was put up on the shore, on the site of the later bishop's residence, for the congregation and for French officials^[1]. The English Wikipedia article records that a parish was founded in that year within the Apostolic Vicariate of Quinhon^[2].

Louis Vallet, the French priest responsible for the Catholics of the Nha Trang area, set out to found a parish and to build a church for it^[1]. Work began on 3 September 1928 on núi Bông, a knoll about 12 metres high, and about 500 charges were used to make a level platform on the summit^[1]. Wikidata places the church at latitude 12.2468 and longitude 109.1881^[3].

A vehicle road up the hill opened at Easter 1929, and a footway of 53 steps on the north side was finished that June^[1]. Kitchens, staff quarters and storerooms followed, and the parish house was completed in March 1930^[1]. The emperor Bảo Đại visited the works on 12 February 1933^[1].

Consecration, bell and tower

The church was consecrated and opened on 14 May 1933, the feast of Joan of Arc, under the title of Christ the King chosen by Louis Vallet^[1][2]. On 29 July 1934 the Apostolic Delegate to Indochina, Archbishop Dreyer, blessed the bell, which was named for Thérèse of the Child Jesus and was the gift of a Catholic woman in Saigon^[1][2]. The bell tower was completed on 3 December 1935^[1][2].

The building is in the Gothic revival manner and is built of stone, with massed blocks rising in stages to the bell tower; the cross at the top stands 38 metres above the road^[1][2]. The English Wikipedia article notes a large amount of stained glass showing saints, among them Joan of Arc and John Vianney, and scenes from the life of Jesus^[2].

Seat of the Nha Trang diocese

The Apostolic Vicariate of Nha Trang was created on 5 July 1957 by division from the Vicariate of Quinhon, through the constitution Crescit Laetissimo of Pope Pius XII^[1][2]. On 24 November 1960 it was raised to a diocese, the church was chosen as the cathedral and the Nha Trang congregation became the cathedral parish^[1]. The first bishop was Paul Raymond Marie Marcel Piquet of the Paris Foreign Missions^[2].

Louis Vallet died on 24 October 1945 and was buried at the foot of the hill, to the right of the road that climbs to the church^[1].

The hillside and the ash niches

On 10 June 1987 the rock face along the main road up the hill was turned into a place for the ashes of the dead, removed from the parish cemetery by a decision of the state^[1]. The clock on the tower failed around 1969 and was not repaired until 1978, since when it has run^[1].

Later works were smaller: the foot of the hill below the Marian grotto was strengthened on 17 February 1990; the main road was repaired and widened by 1.5 metres on 14 March 1991; statues of the twelve apostles, each 1 metre high, and a figure of Christ the King 1.2 metres high were set along the road on 28 October 1991; twelve saints were placed around the forecourt on 19 December 1992; eight more on 19 January 1993; and four further figures on 9 September 1993^[1].

Setting

The cathedral stands on high ground beside the railway line and close to Nha Trang station^[1][2]. The Vietnamese Wikipedia article records the view of many observers that vibration from the trains passing beside the church has affected the stability of the fabric^[1].

The church of Hà Dừa and the other older Catholic buildings of the province lie inland, but the cathedral is the principal Catholic building of the coastal city and the seat of its bishop^[1][2].