Domaine de Marie (in French) or Holy Mother Domain includes a few architectural works: the chapel and two buildings behind, which belong to the nunnery of Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. It was built in 1940 – 1943 on a beautiful and spacious hill in Ngô Quyền Street, in an area of 12 hectares, over 1 kilometer southwest of Dalat Center. This is a unique architecture bearing 17th century European style but built from local Vietnamese materials – the chapel has just repainted in yellow and its bright red tiled roof is really outstanding against the blue sky and green trees.
In the chapel, the extraordinary statue of Holy Mother standing on a globe was designed by French architect Jonchère and modeling a typical Vietnamese lady. This statue, 3 meters in height and one ton in weight, was founded in 1943 as Governor Decoux’s Lady’s donation. Lady Suzanne Humbert, whose tomb lies behind the chapel, was the major donator to help build the monastery and expressed her will to lie down in here after death. Having an accident on Prenn pass, she died on 6th Jan. 1944. Until 1975, it had been the administrative convent with over 50 nuns, mostly Vietnamese, who led religious life and did social work of running an orphanage and a kindergarten, and also managed a sports training center and an all-grade school with French curriculum. Apart from the chapel and two buildings behind, the others have been nationalized.
The superior’s residence has moved to HCM City, but these nuns keep on running a semi-state-run half-boarding kindergarten with a capacity about 200 pupils and provide free training courses to young people on such skills as knitting, crocheting, embroidery and sewing.
Nowadays these Daughters of charity of Saint Vicent de Paul are giving their hands in different social environments such as taking care of mentally underdeveloping children, helping orphans, providing medical treatment to the poor and serving leprous patients in Di Linh Lazaret. In complete silence, what they keep doing seems to proclaim that “true human beings must share charity to others”, which is also the appeal for living the Gospel inside our people, sent to Roman Catholic community by the Vietnamese Board of Bishops in 1980.
After 1975, the name ‘Domain’ was vietnamized into Mai Anh Hill. If tourists ever visit the flower garden behind the church, they will have a chance to admire lost of beautiful rare Hài Tiên flowers blooming. Time of ceremony:
From Mon. to Sat:17h15
Sunday: 6h00 – 16h15
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