Ancient relics of Hanoi: Lien Tri Pagoda and Hoa Phong Tower

On the edge of Ho Guom, in front of the Central Post Office, there is a small, modest tower on the sidewalk. It is the only remaining vestige of a fairly large temple that once existed at the position of the Post Office itself.

Described by André Masson in the book "Hanoi period 1873 - 1888" wrote: "In the southeast of the lake, now the Post Office, stands the most special pagoda among Hanoi pagodas.

The main building of the pagoda is surrounded by a circular lake full of lotus, the lake itself gives the temple the name Lien Tri (Fleurs de Lotus). It is also known as "Nguyễn Đăng Giai Temple" to commemorate the governor, who built it in the first years of Thieu Tri's reign (1841).

The French changed their name to "Pagode des Supplices" (Pagode des Supplices) because people saw carved in stone and wood in the temple a series of tortures of criminals suffering in the afterlife. " . Ancient architecture saved on each line, detail.

Initially, the pagoda was used by the French to garrison then decided to completely demolish to build a post office, the Governmental Palace, leaving only the lonely Hoa Phong Tower by the Sword Lake.

In 1884, Doctor Hocquard took many pictures of this temple quite intact and at the Guimet Museum in Paris still preserved many wooden Buddha statues of this temple that were lost after being destroyed.