Đồng Xuân Market

Đồng Xuân Market is a market in the center district Hoàn Kiếm of Hanoi, Vietnam. Originally built by the French administration in 1889, Đồng Xuân Market has been renovated several times with the latest in 1994 after a fire which almost destroyed the market. Nowadays, Đồng Xuân Market is the largest covered market of Hanoi where the wholesale traders sell everything from clothes, household goods to foodstuffs.HistoryAt the end of the 19th century, the Old Quarter of Hanoi had two main marketplaces, one at Hang Duong street and the other at Hang Ma street. In 1889, these two markets were closed and replaced by the original Đồng Xuân Market which was built by the order of the French administration in 1889 as one of the principal new architectures of Hanoi, together with Long Biên Bridge which was located nearby and completed in 1902. The market was located at the Hanoi's Old Quarter which was only 600 m north of Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The covered area of the market was about 6.500 m² with a large roof of corrugated galvanised iron supplied by the French contractor Poinsard Veyret. The most recognizable feature of the market was the 5-arch entrance corresponding to Dong Xuan Market's five domes, each dome was measured 19 m in height and 25 m in width. When the First Indochina War broke out in Hanoi in early 1947, a fierce struggle between Việt Minh and French forces took place in the area of the market on February 14. To commemorate the event, a memorial was erected near the principal gate of the market in 2005.