Con Dao - Historical mark on the cultural map of Ho Chi Minh City

Con Dao becoming a special economic zone, one of 168 grassroots administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City today opens up prospects for mutual growth and sustainable development in the near future.

International tourists stroll, admire the sea and heritage banyan trees in Con Dao

Immediately after the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, the issue of administrative boundaries and names of provinces and cities was raised. Con Dao became a district of Hau Giang province. On May 30, 1979, the Vung Tau - Con Dao special zone was formed. In 1991, Con Dao became a district of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and from July 1, 2025, Con Dao officially became a special zone of Ho Chi Minh City.

Over the past 50 years, regardless of the administrative boundaries of Con Dao, those working in culture in general and in the field of cultural heritage in particular in Ho Chi Minh City have always stood side by side with their colleagues in Con Dao. Right after April 30, 1975, the US-Puppet Crime Exhibition House (now the War Remnants Museum) connected with Con Dao to form specialized exhibition areas.

Next, most of the museums previously managed by the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City have cooperated with the Management Board of the National Historical Site of Con Dao, with the Con Dao Museum. Among them, in addition to the War Remnants Museum, the most connected unit is the Ton Duc Thang Museum. Uncle Ton was one of the prisoners in Con Dao who contributed to writing the heroic history of revolutionary soldiers in that hell on earth. At the Ton Duc Thang Museum, since the 1990s, there has been an exhibition room recreating the "Rice Milling Tunnel" in Con Dao to tell the story of "The person who told the story of the rice milling tunnel" attracting the attention of many visitors.

It can be said that for nearly 50 years, the cultural sector of Ho Chi Minh City has always turned to Con Dao with the highest enthusiasm. Besides the common reasons, there are also individual reasons, because many of the brothers and sisters in the city's cultural sector were former prisoners of Con Dao and for them, that hell on earth has preserved an important part of the revolutionary life. All, with the highest sincerity, wish to contribute to raising the cultural status of this land, raising the spiritual life of the people here.

Now, when Con Dao is in the heart of the metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, the city has a rich cultural heritage map with 4 special national historical sites (Con Dao, Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail (Loc An Wharf), Cu Chi Tunnels, Independence Palace), and 100 national relics (Ho Chi Minh City previously had 58, Binh Duong 13, Ba Ria - Vung Tau 29). With such a rich amount of cultural heritage tourism resources, along with natural resources such as Vung Tau sea, Long Hai, Can Gio... the city's tourism industry is facing the opportunity to exploit potential and rich inner-city tourism routes (city tour).

Con Dao has become a special economic zone, one of 168 grassroots administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City today, opening up prospects for mutual growth and sustainable development in the near future. Con Dao will be a unique feature of the megacity of Ho Chi Minh City, a modern metropolis, imbued with national cultural identity through cultural heritages that have stood the test of time.

LE TU CAM
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Cultural Heritage Association

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/con-dao-dau-an-lich-su-trong-ban-do-van-hoa-tphcm-post808894.html