Linh Sơn Cổ Tự Pagoda

Linh Sơn Cổ Tự is a pagoda located at 104 Hoàng Hoa Thám, Vũng Tàu ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The pagoda was recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Vietnam as a national historical and cultural site on 3 August 1991.

The pagoda was built in 1919 on Núi Nhỏ (Small Mountain), but as the French occupied the site to build a lighthouse, another pagoda was constructed at its current location and has existed there to this day. This is the oldest pagoda in Vũng Tàu.

Although Linh Sơn Cổ Tự is not grand or spacious, it is the oldest pagoda in Vũng Tàu, situated on Hoàng Hoa Thám street, Vũng Tàu ward.

In its early period, the pagoda was built on the slope of Small Mountain, but in 1919 this area was occupied by the French to build villas for their lighthouse keepers. Immediately afterwards, another pagoda was built and has remained until today.

In the main hall, there is a 1.2-metre-high Buddha statue made of stone and gilded, skilfully carved to create a gentle and extremely lifelike expression on the Buddha's face, in the style of Cham Buddha statues. Archaeologists estimate it to be about 1,600 years old.

Regarding the origin of the Buddha statue, legend has it that more than a year ago, a group of fishing boats from Central Vietnam came to fish at Bãi Trước. While gathering firewood on Núi Lớn (Big Mountain), they accidentally discovered two stone Buddha statues buried in the ground on the mountainside near Bãi Dâu. They dug them up together and waited until the next day to hold a ceremony to request to take them away. When the local people heard the news, they rushed to see and insisted that these were local historical relics and were determined to keep them. The group of fishermen from Central Vietnam pleaded for a long time before being allowed to take the smaller statue. The larger statue was brought back by the villagers to be worshipped, and it is the very statue currently enshrined at Linh Sơn Cổ Tự.