Hoa Lo Prison

A living witness to a past historical period

Located at number 1 Hoa Lo Street, Hanoi, Hoa Lo Prison is not only clear evidence for a historical period of miserable history and hard work but also a symbol of Vietnam’s indomitable and resilient spirit.

Hoa Lo Prison, formerly known as Maison Centrale in French, is an old prison built by the French in 1896. The prison used to serve as a central prison to political prisoners and patriots against the colonial government.

Under the French colonial rule, Hoa Lo had the construction of 4m high stone walls, 0.5m thick reinforced with electric steel wire. The entire prison area is divided into 4 zones: A, B, C, D, in which:

• Zone A, B: for investigating offenders, unimportant offenders or offenders violating the prison discipline

• Zone C: for French or foreign prisoners

• Zone D: for death-sentenced prisoners

 

The total area of the former prison area was over 12,000m2. However, today only 2.434m2 is retained and preserved to become a historical relic, serving as sightseeing mainly for those who want to witness for themselves how exactly a prison looks like.

Dubbed the “earthly hell” place, the most feared prison in Southeast Asia, during the time of its operation, Hoa Lo Prison became a detention place of generations of Vietnamese soldiers and revolutionary activists. The prison’s architecture was designed with torture and forced forms of cruelty, the most typical of which is the guillotine, the horrible machine has put the prison’s name into the top 10 The world’s most notorious prison.

In prison, there are recreated scenes to give an overview of the daily activities of the prisoners as well as the cruel tortures. The most frightening place of the prison was “Cachot” (dungeon) – the “hell of hell” – specialized in detaining those who violate rules, deliberately oppose or protest.

The dungeon was seen as a horrifying obsession for any prisoner, with bouncing slaps, blows, gaping, shackles, terrible accommodation, sleeping, and hygiene in just a dark tiny space. Most prisoners who were locked up here for some time would suffer from oedema, scabies due to lack of hygiene and sunshine.

Although being under brutal repression, the patriotism and revolutionary struggle continued to rekindle in the dark space of the prison. Revolutionary propaganda sessions, learning movements, political theory classes were organized underground, aimed at propagating the Party’s ideals, enlightening soldiers and contacting groups outside the prison.

Moreover, revolutionary newspapers such as “Prison Life” and “Prison Journal” were also born in the very life of oppression and exploitation to educate and raise the Party’s awareness and burn the revolutionary fire right from inside the enemy’s territory.

After the liberation of the capital, Hoa Lo Prison was once used for detaining American pilots until 1973. With its historical role and values, Hoa Lo Prison has become a fascinating destination for domestic and international history lovers to remember a time had passed.

 

Upon arrival at Hanoi, don’t forget to pay a visit to the two symbolic destinations of the capital city – Tran Quoc Pagoda and Hoa Lo Prison – to truly feel the heroic history lessons and the timeless beauty.