Lê Duẩn Boulevard

Lê Duẩn Boulevard (Đường Lê Duẩn / Đại lộ Lê Duẩn) is a boulevard in District 1, downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The boulevard stretches from Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street, right across from the Independence Palace, to Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Street, right across from the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

The offices of the United States Consulate General, British Consulate General, Netherlands Consulate General and German Consulate General are located on this boulevard.

History
Lê Duẩn Boulevard, initially named boulevard Norodom, is one of Saigon's first five boulevards that were built by the French. According to scholar Vuong Hong Sen, the boulevard was opened in 1872, following the completion of the Saigon Governor's Palace.

Initially, the boulevard was quite short, stretching only from the palace to rue Catinat. It was then extended in two stages: first as far as rue de Bangkok (present-day Mạc Đĩnh Chi Street) and then all the way to the Botanical and Zoological Gardens.

In 1955, following the departure of the French, boulevard Norodom was renamed Thống Nhứt Boulevard by the South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm.

In August 1975, after the Fall of Saigon, the boulevard was renamed April 30 Boulevard by the Provisional Revolutionary Government. Then in 1986, it was renamed again to Lê Duẩn Boulevard to commemorate the Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Lê Duẩn, who passed earlier that year.