HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Thu Thiem Catholic Church complex will be preserved as a national relicunder the Cultural Heritage Law, an official said at a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on November 12.

The complex, which includes a number ofbuildings, will be protected in accordance with the 2001 Cultural Heritage Lawand other related legal documents, according to Huynh Thanh Nhan, Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports.

Speaking at the meeting on historicpreservation held by the municipal People’s Council, Nhan said the decision would affect the city’s planning of the Thu Thiem newurban area project in District 2 since the complex is located within the area.

Previously, the city government hadplanned to clear all of these works to build a functional area in the new urbanarea, but decided to preserve them in early February. But it did not issue adetailed plan at that time.

The department said it would submitdocuments to the municipal People’ Committee next month. The rankingof the complex of buildings as national relics aims to preserve and promote thearchitectural, cultural and historic value of the works, according to Nhan.

Located on the banks of the Sai Gon River next to the city centre, the ThuThiem Catholic church was built in 1859, one of the oldest parishes of the HCMCity Archdiocese.

The Thu Thiem Congregation of the Loversof the Holy Cross, which includes a monastery and other buildings, wasestablished in 1840 and has been expanding in the Thu Thiem area since it wasan isolated area on the side of the river with only a few small houses.

Since the foundation of the church, theSisters of the Lovers of the Holy Cross have transformed the tropical area intohomes, schools and farms from which they earned a living and supported the poorof the area.

For the past 20 years, the city governmenthas been carrying out a master plan for the Thu Thiem new urban area which covers657ha, with nearly 30 percent of land lots being developed for commercialpurposes.

Other areas in the new urban area are forpublic services, including a central square, riverside park and children’spalace.

Approved by the Government in 1996, theproposed financial district and mixed-use urban area was expected to become thelargest inner-city development in Southeast Asia.

To develop such a project, it has takenmore than 10 years to complete site clearance on Thu Thiem peninsula, withnearly 15,000 households already resettled. More than 99 percent of land in theproposed area has been cleared.

Besides the church, the preservation ofold villas in the city was also addressed at the meeting. The HCM CityDevelopment and Research Institute has proposed preserving 16 villas builtbefore 1975 because of their historical and cultural importance.  

HCM City has nearly 900 villas builtbefore 1975, mostly located in districts 1, 3, 5 and Thủ Đức, which have beenrecommended for official classification by owners and authorities.

Valuable old buildings, mostly builtduring the French colonial period, include the HCM City People’s Court (builtin 1881), King’s Palace or Revolutionary Museum (1885), Majestic Hotel andNotre Dame Cathedral (1887), Sai Gon Post Office (1886-1891), HCM City People's Committee Head Office (1907),Opera House (1900), and Ben Thanh Market (1912-1914)./.