The visit aimed to enhance cooperation between the French side and Lam Dong province.
During the visit, the French ambassador handed over a copy of the original design of the Place of former King Bao Dai in the province to Deputy Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee Pham S.
The place built from 1937 to 1941 for Bao Dai, the last king of the Vietnamese feudal dynasty was designed by a group of French and Vietnamese architects led by Chief Architect Paul Veysseyre, who was a member of the French Architecture Institute but lived and worked in Vietnam as from 1937.
The French architect designed and supervised a number of construction projects in Da Lat and Saigon (currently named Ho Chi Minh City), particularly French-style villas, churches and other structures.
At the design hand-over ceremony, the French Ambassador to Vietnam said, “The handover of the design of the palace marks an important period of the bilateral cooperation in restoring historical and cultural heritages in Lam Dong province. The design of the old palace will help the Lam Dong province leadership effectively recover the building, contributing to promoting tourism in Da Lat city.”
According to the French senior diplomat, the Vietnamese province of Lam Dong and the French province of Occitanie are stepping up the establishment of cooperation in restoring historical and cultural heritages.
French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery also said that Mr. Jacques Veysseyre, the son of Chief Architect Paul Veysseyre, who now preserves the original design of the palace, is very interested in the place restoration project, saying that he has given the copy of the design to the Vietnamese authorities in a hope that the Vietnamese can effectively restore one of the structures designed by his father.
He also promised that he will give the original design to the Vietnamese side for conservation.
Reported by Hoang Linh