In spite of having official name being Domaine de Marie Church, Dalat People are still used to calling the church located in a hill growing full of Mai Anh Dao flowers to be Mai Anh (Mai Anh Dao means Cherry in English). Coming to Dalat, you should spend some hours visiting an architecture named Mai Anh Church built the 20th mid-century. With a total area of 12 ha, 1km from the center of Dalat City to southwestern, the complex of the church is built according to the architectural style of the 17thcentury Europe connecting to the architecture style of ethnic minorities of central highland.
The ground of the church has a cross shape, but the rate goes off stringent rules of religious architecture in Europe – the width of 11m and the length of 33m. There are 2 step roads going to the main door and joins into the hall. The front of the church is designed according to isosceles triangle and the top has a cross. The mean door has leaf shape of Gothic architecture style. The 2 big roofs of the church have the tilt the same as the ones of a common house of ethnic minorities of central highland. The windows have the small roofs coming out from the big roofs and are put pieces of colored glass that make the church more sparkling and graceful. The church is built of adhesives as lime, molasses, and additives most of which are available in Vietnam. The wall of the church has been painted with dark pink colored paint since it was established, bright when the sunshine radiates to, making the specific characteristic of Mai Anh church in Dalat.
The other character of Mai Anh Church is the statue of Mother standing on the globe carved according to the shape of a Vietnamese Woman by a French architect Janchere in 1943. The statue has the height of 3m and the weight of 1 ton. The person having the biggest merit in building the church is the wife of Governor-General of French Indochina Jean Decoux, Mrs. Suzanne Humbert. Lady called everybody to donate to build the architecture from 1940 – 1943. Behind the church is a flower a garden in which there is the tomb of Mrs. Suzanne. She passed away in 1944 because of a road accident.
The hill where Mai Anh is located is also a unique point for that tourists watch Dalat City when the sun rises and when the sun sets. Mai Anh Church is arranged into the list of Top 10 famous churches in Vietnam. If having a chance to travel to Dalat City, Lam Dong Province, You should spend the time visiting this special site.
You might like this Wooden Cathedral in Kontum, Vietnam
