| Ho
Chi Minh Mausoleum (1973-1975) other
sites in Hanoi |
Hanoi, Vietnam |
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Ignoring Ho Chi Minh's wish to be cremated, the successors of Ho Chi Minh constructed this mausoleum between 1973-75 to house his mortal remains. The building is made entirely of native materials, and is contextual to the extent that the roof lines vaguely recall traditional houses (perhaps also the peristyle brings to mind the ubiquitous stilts of traditional homes).
Inside, no cameras or portable items of any kind are allowed. Guards dressed all in white watch carefully as visitors shuffle by the glass case housing Ho Chi Minh. During the night the corpse is lowered deep into the ground into a cooler vault. Despite this protection, the mausoleum closes for three months a year (from September to early December) while the corpse is in Russia for maintenance.
Macabre though it may be, the mausoleum follows a tradition begun with Lenin in Russia. Also housed in a similar building is Mao Zedong of China, who died a few years after Ho Chi Minh and was installed in the Mao Mausoleum at Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
Bibliography:
All images copyright 2003 Yunsheng Huang of the University of Virginia.
Buckley,
Michael. Moon Travel Guides: Vietnam Cambodia and Laos Handbook, 2nd
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Florence,
Mason & Storey, Robert. Lonely Planet: Vietnam
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Lonely Planet Publications. 1999
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Helen. Insight Guides: Vietnam
Singapore:
APA Publications (HK) Ltd. 1991