Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Despite Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh’s will, which clearly stated his wish to be cremated, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum was inaugurated in August of in 1975. Since then, it has housed the politician’s perfectly preserved remains.

Located in Ba Dinh Square, where Ho read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, thus establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, this impressive monument contains a glass casket, which holds Ho Chi Minh’s body. Vietnam’s Communist Party flag hangs over the casket.

The body is dimly lit, and visitors have only a short time to look at it as they are shuffled through the mausoleum - in fact, the line is not allowed to stop moving. It is rumored that the casket contains just a model of Ho, since even an embalmed body would eventually decay, which Ho’s body has not.

The Atlas Obscura Podcast is a short, daily celebration of all the world’s strange and wondrous places. Check out this episode about Communist Mummies.