Ben Thanh Market through time

Ho Chi Minh City 1866–2023 17 photos of this spot

17 photographs taken at the same spot in Ho Chi Minh City, spanning 1866–2023 — 4 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

This 1866 photograph of Saigon is part of a series John Thomson made while touring French Cochinchina, one of the first Western photographers to work extensively in Southeast Asia. At the time, Saigon was developing rapidly as the seat of French colonial administration on the Saigon River.

EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, (1866) A 1866 This 1866 photograph of Saigon is part of a series John Thomson made while touring French Cochinchina, one of the first Western photographers to work extensively in Southeast Asia. At the time, Saigon was developing rapidly as the seat of French colonial administration on the Saigon River.

EU: Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson, (1867) A 1867 In 1867, Scottish photographer John Thomson recorded this scene in Saigon, capital of the French colony of Cochinchina since the early 1860s. His photographs from this trip rank among the earliest systematic photographic surveys of Vietnam.

EU: Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson, (1867) B 1867 This is another of John Thomson's 1867 photographs of Saigon, taken during the same journey through Cochinchina that produced his later study of Cambodia's ancient monuments.

EU: Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson, (1867) C 1867 John Thomson made this photograph in Saigon in 1867, part of a set documenting the city under early French colonial administration, only a few years after the Treaty of Saigon transferred the territory from Vietnamese to French control.

Phan Boi Chau Street 2012 Phan Boi Chau street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City is named for the early 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist and writer. Phan Boi Chau was a leading figure in the movement against French colonial rule before his death in 1940.

Ben Thanh, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, , DD 2013 Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, photographed in August 2013. Opened in 1914, the market's clock-tower entrance is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city's downtown district.

Ben Thanh, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, , DD 2013 Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a landmark market building dating to 1914, photographed in August 2013.

Ben Thanh, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, , DD 2013 The clock tower of Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, photographed in August 2013.

Ben Thanh, Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, , DD 2013 Vendors and shoppers near Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, photographed in August 2013.

VIETNAM 2016 A street scene in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 2016. Formerly known as Saigon, the city became Vietnam's largest urban center and its principal commercial hub after reunification in 1975.

Ben Thanh Market 2017 Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, photographed in 2017. Built in its current form in 1914, it remains one of the city's oldest and most recognizable markets.

Inside Ben Thahn Market 2019 The interior of Ben Thanh Market, a landmark covered marketplace in central Ho Chi Minh City that has operated on the same site since 1914 and remains a major hub for local trade, photographed in 2019.

Bến Thành Market (Chợ Bến Thành) 2023 A December 2023 photograph of Bến Thành Market, whose distinctive clock tower has served as a Saigon landmark for over a century.

Ben Thanh Market 2023 Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, photographed in 2023. Opened in 1914, the market with its distinctive clock tower entrance remains one of the city's oldest and most recognizable landmarks.

Ben Thanh Market 2023 The interior of Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, 2023, where vendor stalls sell food, textiles, and household goods beneath the market's early twentieth-century roof.

Ben Thanh Market 2023 Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, photographed in 2023. Opened in the early 20th century, its clock-tower entrance has become one of the city's best-known landmarks.

Bến Thành Market (Chợ Bến Thành) 2023 Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, photographed in December 2023. Opened in 1914 under French colonial rule, its clock tower entrance remains one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.