Turtle Lake

In the middle of the intersection, a concrete tower remains above an octagonal body of water, surrounded by steps and walkways. A bronze turtle once stood nearby with a marble slab listing the countries that aided South Vietnam; it gave rise to the popular name Turtle Lake. The turtle itself has long been gone, but the tower, water, and circular platform have preserved the monument's original design within the city fabric.

Today, groups sit around the octagonal pool, eat snacks bought from street vendors, and arrange to meet here. The broad steps and walkways above the water suit these purposes. Architect Nguyễn Kỳ intended them for something else: state ceremonies were meant to take place here.

Before the present structure, a French memorial to those who died in the First World War stood in the middle of the intersection. On July twenty-ninth, nineteen sixty-four, members of the General Association of Saigon Students tied ropes around its statues and pulled them down from their pedestal. They opposed the signs of French domination that remained in the city. The names of the participants and the consequences for each of them have not survived in known accounts; newspapers reported the fall of the figures itself. Only an obelisk remained at the traffic circle.

Three years later, a nationwide competition for a new monument was announced. Nguyễn Kỳ entered as a practicing architect: his design would either be built at one of Saigon's most prominent intersections or remain on paper. The jury selected his work on November twenty-fourth, nineteen sixty-seven. The structure opened on June twenty-second, nineteen sixty-nine—on International Aid Day.

Nguyễn Kỳ called the tall concrete section the Flower of Freedom. It depicted a lotus opening above octagonal water. Beneath it was a mosaic-clad ceremonial platform with a large bronze incense burner: on commemorative days, representatives of the government of South Vietnam lit incense here.

West of the platform stood a bronze turtle. On its back it held a marble slab naming the countries that had aided South Vietnam. The turtle, a traditional symbol of longevity, repeated the arrangement of old Vietnamese commemorative stelae, where a sacred animal likewise bears a stone inscription. That is why the place's full name was International Square. The present International Square took its name from the states listed on the slab, while the popular name Turtle Lake came from the turtle itself.

In nineteen seventy-six, unknown people destroyed the turtle statue together with the slab. The bronze incense burner and the metal decorations of the Flower of Freedom also disappeared. What remained were the concrete tower, the pool, the stairs, and the platform, which residents gradually took over for meeting, trade, and food.

The turtle has been gone for half a century. But it is still easier to arrange, “Let's meet at Turtle Lake,” than to name International Square.