The old church in Dong Chiem village (An Phu, My Duc, Hanoi) was built over 100 years ago. Right in front of the church door there were a couple of stones facing out.
| Dong Chiem Church (An Phu, My Duc, Hanoi) was built over 100 years ago. Anh Luong – Secretary of Dong Chiem village branch said that in the past, the land for building the church was a rocky mountain. The builder of this church is French. He went to Vietnam to evangelize. |
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| From the church we can see the full roofs of the village. Surrounding the church grounds are rocky mountains. |
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| Up to now, the church is still intact, with no signs of deterioration. |
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| The main entrance to the church. Mr. Luong added that the entrance to the old church was only stacked stones. Several years ago, parishioners in the area contributed to the renovation and the creation of the up and down stairs as now. |
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| If viewed from a distance, the church is like lying on the back of a giant tortoise, emerging from the water. |
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| “I heard the elders in the village told that the church was built with natural materials, bricks bound together by a mixture of molasses and other additives,” said Luong. |
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| The church was built in the style of French architecture, but some patterned details have a bit of Indochina architecture. |
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| In front of the church there are a couple of rocks lying on the entrance. Normally, stone stools often appear in the communal houses and temples of Vietnam. However, somehow there is this stone couple here. “Up to now, the couple in front of the church is still a mystery,” said Dong Chiem village party secretary. |
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| Sharing with PV, Father Nguyen Van Khich – the person in charge of the church said: “This pair of stones has an age with the church. I have just been back for more than a year, so I cannot explain. As I understand, The stone couple with traditional Vietnamese culture are spiritual symbols, however, when located here, the two statues are only decorative meaning, as this church is a European architecture, but the decorative motifs are still Vietnamese style. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand “. |
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| Mr. Giap – an elderly person in Dong Chiem village added that some stone stakes have been built since the church was newly built. When he was little, he went to church to play and saw this couple. In the past, the stone stone was placed in front of the parish priest’s work area. Only later did people move to the steps. |
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| Mr. Nguyen Manh Ngu – Chairman of the People’s Committee of An Phu commune said: “The church in Dong Chiem village has a long history, is located in the population of tourist attractions in An Phu commune. In recent years, we are promoting tourism development for the commune through lotus village activities, community based tourism, sightseeing tours … With beautiful scenery, many young couples have come to the church to take wedding photos “. |
vietnamnet