Đồng Khởi Street (Vietnamese: Đường Đồng Khởi), formerly known as Rue Catinat and Tự Do Street, is a street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The street stretches from Nguyễn Du Street, across from the Paris Commune Square, to Tôn Đức Thắng Boulevard and Bạch Đằng Quay, Saigon River waterfront.

History

The street was originally named after the French Warship Catinat that participated in the mid-19th century attacks by France when that country was intent on seizing control of Viet Nam. The ship itself honored Nicolas Catinat, a 17th- and 18th-century Marshal of France; but application of name to prominent street was intended to remind strollers of the first step toward control of a vanquished nation by a colonial power Before its present incarnation as Đồng Khởi visitors to Saigon will remember Tự Do Street, as it was called by the Vietnamese after the French departed. Đường Đồng Khởi is the location of a number of famous colonial buildings:

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