St. Joseph Cathedral, Cua Bac Church, Ham Long Church shimmering in the lights and Christmas trees, preparing to welcome Christmas.
Talking about Christmas in Hanoi is not to be missed at St. Joseph Cathedral. This is one of the oldest churches in the capital. The preparation and decoration for Christmas here has started from the early days of December.
In front of the church is a large pine tree for visitors to the ceremony and visitors can take pictures. This year, according to tradition, the front of the church has been decorated with a large star, constantly changing color. It is the Star of Bethlehem, also known as the Christmas star. According to the Gospel of Matthew, this is the star who led the three Eastern wise men to Jerusalem. That star is always in front of them, leading the way and stopping exactly where Jesus was born.
Next to the pine tree is a scene of Jesus’ birth. People from all over flock to the Cathedral in the days before Christmas to take beautiful pictures, enjoying the special holiday atmosphere of the year.
Not far from the Cathedral is Cua Bac Church. This is one of the most beautiful churches in Hanoi, built in Cua Bac Thang Long citadel in 1931-1932 (there are many house writing documents built in 1927 under the French colonial period).
This year, the church is preparing for Christmas in about 3 weeks. During these days, this place is always open to visitors from 8am to 12am, and from 14h to 17h30. In the evening, visitors can still visit to see the church decorated in the light.
In the church campus, a sophisticated, authentic scene of Jesus was born, creating a peaceful feeling for visitors when entering the church.
The church built a glittering tree 13 m high in the campus. This year’s pine tree has more bow decorations.
Not only the lights and stars outside the campus, this year’s church interior has stars on the poles. This is a feature of this year’s decoration of Cua Bac Church.
The church is decorated with more lights than every year, estimated to have a thousand star lights. On the night of December 24, the church held a celebration to celebrate Christmas at 9:30 p.m., then Mass at 23 o’clock. The church is open to visit freely.
Ham Long Church glows in the lights before Christmas. Thanks to the white paint color, the prominent church on Ham Long street is not too crowded. The church started the decoration process to prepare for Christmas holidays from early December. This is a church of the Roman Catholic Church, belonging to the archdiocese of Hanoi.
The path leading to the church is splendidly decorated by hanging lights, lined with trees in front of the church. This makes people overwhelmed when passing the church in the evening.
This year, the church decorated a real tree, offered by a lamb. This is the first time the church has used a real tree as a decoration due to the complicated transit into the city. Pine tree of the Caribbean genus, about 12 meters high, is transported by crane from a nursery in Dai Lai.
In the garden, there is a sophisticated Christmas scene of Jesus, glowing in a corner of the church. On the night of December 24, Ham Long Church started the Christmas celebration with music and performances from 20h15.