HOA LO PRISON

The Hoa Lo Prison’s “Hoa Lo'' means “furnace” or “stove”. Built in the year 1896 this vast prison complex was originally built to house 450 inmates but some records indicate that almost 2000 prisoners were imprisoned here during the 1930’s.

During the Vietnam War American Prisoner of Wars were housed here and they called it the Hanoi Hilton. The exhibits of the prison are thought provoking as you will find an ominous French guillotine as a horrifying testimony to how the Vietnamese revolutionaries were beheaded here.

Location: 1 Hoả Lò, Trần Hưng Đạo, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Timings: 8 AM 5 PM

Highlights: Hoa Lo never turned out to be a successful prison as hundreds of inmates escaped its walls, and some managed to even squeeze through the sewer grates.