Hỏa Lò Prison

Hanoi Hilton

This prison was built by the French at the turn of the 20th century, in classical French prison design. Two thirds of the prison was torn down to make way for the Hanoi Towers, and the rest was converted into a museum. This is where the French imprisoned and executed Vietnamese freedom fighters. The museum exhibits the plight of jailed political revolutionaries under the French colonial regime and the struggle of the Vietnamese people against imperialism in chilling detail. Later, during the America-Vietnam War, the prison held US prisoners of war that sarcastically referred to it as the "Hanoi Hilton". This period is not emphasized, except to present the official narrative of how humanely the POWs were treated, such as showing photos only of prisoners being treated well and playing basketball and playing chess. The museum claims to have the flight suit of John McCain, the most notable POW held here, from when his plane was shot down. Most of the exhibits have detailed English information, but you can also get an audioguide for 50,000 dong.

• Heritage listed

• history
• museum

Address

1 Hỏa Lò, Hoan Kiem

Hours

Daily 08:30-12:00, 14:00-16:30 (Mon & Fri from 08:00)

Price

50,000 dong

Phone

+84 439342253

Website

hoalo.vn (opens in a new tab)