Hoa Lo was constructed by the French in the 19th century and was the "home" of many unlucky Vietnamese revolutionary.
Hoa Lo was constructed by the French in the 19th century and was the
"home" of many unlucky Vietnamese revolutionary. Some of them were
beheaded by the Guillotine still on display. At its peak the prison
held up to 2'000 prisoners, up from 200 prisoners in the beginning! A
few famous outbreaks and the notorious cruelty of the guards made it
infamous in Vietnam and made some of the inmates revolutionary heroes.
But
the prison became really famous when the Vietnamese started to use it
for locking-up American and French fighter pilots being shot-down in
the Vietnam war. It's most famous inmate was John McCain, now senator
in the USA and probable candidate for the 2008 presidential elections.
