The Independence Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Độc Lập), also publicly known as the Reunification Convention Hall (Vietnamese: Hội trường Thống Nhất), is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ and was the home and workplace of the president of the Republic of Vietnam. It was the site of the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.
The construction of the palace started on 1 July 1962. Meanwhile, Diệm and his ruling family moved to Gia Long Palace (today the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City). However, Diệm did not see the completed hall as he and his brother and chief adviser Ngô Đình Nhu were assassinated after a coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. The completed hall was inaugurated on 31 October 1966 by the chairman of the National Leadership Committee, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who was then the head of a military junta. The Independence Hall served as Thiệu's home and office from October 1967 to 21 April 1975, when he fled[2] the country as communist North Vietnamese forces swept southwards in the decisive Ho Chi Minh Campaign.
In November 1975, after the negotiation convention between the communist North Vietnam and their colleagues in South Vietnam was completed, the Provisional Revolutionary Government renamed the palace Reunification Hall (Hội trường Thống Nhất).
The palace is depicted on the 200-đồng note of South Vietnam.
President's Office in the Hall
The old war room underneath the palace
Roof of Reunification Palace
The Banquet Chamber in the Independence Hall
Ministers' cabinet room
Conference hall
Vietnamese T-54 tank in the gardens at the entrance of the palace
