Saigon Opera House (Vietnamese: Nhà hát Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, French: Théâtre municipal de Hô Chi Minh-Ville), officially named Ho Chi Minh City Ballet, Symphony, Orchestra and Opera (Nhà hát Giao hưởng, Nhạc - vũ kịch Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh), is a municipal opera house in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Like other French-built opera houses during French colonial period, including Hanoi Opera House and Haiphong Opera House, it is an example of French Colonial architecture in Vietnam.
Designed by French architects as the Opéra de Saïgon, the building was completed in 1900.[1] The 500-seat building served as the house of the unicameral National Assembly from 1956 until 1967 and subsequently as the seat of bicameral chambers: Lower House (Hạ Nghị Viện) and a Senate or Upper House (Thượng Nghị Viện) of the National Assembly of South Vietnam. It housed the People's Congress of Deputies (Đại hội đại biểu Nhân dân) of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. It was not until 1976 that it was again used as a theatre. The façade was restored in 1998.
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