During the trips to Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular, Sapa has always been the destination chosen by many tourists to explore during the holidays because its landscape bears a wild, simple but incredibly attractive feature. Especially, Sapa Old Church is always a top destination when coming to this place.
Sapa Old Church was built by the French since 1895. This can be considered remaining old architecture of the French in Sapa. Along with Ham Rong Mountain, Cat Cat Village, Muong Hoa Valley, Sapa Old Church is an attractive place to explore the European characteristics of Sapa
Sapa Old Church, also known as the Stone Church or the Holy Rosary Church, is located in the heart of Sapa town with beautiful terrain that has majestic Ham Rong Mountain behind and the wide and flat land holding the colorful festivals of a mountain town in front. The church is regarded as a symbol of a city year round fog – Sapa where includes breathing of northwestern mountains that any traveler arriving Sapa also wants to save an image as a commitment of having stood on the land of Sapa.
The church was built in the shape of the cross of Roman Gothic architecture. The architecture is reflected in the roof, arches, bell tower. All are pyramids creating for the building the elegant feature. The area of the church is 6,000 square meters including separate zones including zones of cathedral, angels, houses of priests, the Holy Garden, part of the front yard, the livestock area, and fences. Like many other religions, the choice of direction for the church brings a spiritual thought that is very important for Catholics. The front of the church turns towards the east (towards Sunrise) to catch the light of Jesus Christ and the Tower bell looks towards the west – the birthplace of Christ. The entire church was built of carving stone from the wall, the floor to the steeple, the church’s yard, and surrounding embankments. All are linked together by a mixture of sand, lime, and molasses. The zone of Sapa Old Stone Church covers an area of over 500 square meters with 7 zones. The section of the bell tower is 20 meters high, and the bell is 1.5m high and 500 kilograms heavy.
Sapa Old Church is also the place happening a lot of cultural activities of ethnic minorities here, especially the “Love Market” that takes place on every Saturdays with the passionate and gentle sounds of piping, the trumpet as well as the soft dances of boys, girls of Mong, Yao minorities. Praying activities and cultural activities taking place during the weekends make the Church more shimmering, magical and strangely charismatic.
Visiting the ancient church, tourists can admire the beautiful scenery of Sapa land and save the best memories in your traveling trips. Moreover, visitors have a better understanding of the culture, the traditional practices of ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
