When this picture was drawn in 1881 by a ship captain known as Favre, the French were 22 years into their occupation of Saigon. In this short time, the city took on a decidedly colonial feel both in terms of architecture and infrastructure. While not a map, per se, there are plenty of interesting details of Saigon's past.

Nguyen Hue Street was a canal (and was the location of Ben Thanh market until 1911); the walls of Saigon's citadel, burned to the ground in 1859, were still intact; the area around present day Ben Thanh market was nothing more than swampland and the cathedral dominated the skyline (the Opera House wasn't built until 1897).

Considering Favre drew this without the benefit of a birds-eye view is pretty impressive.

You can view a larger version of the map here.

For a ground level comparison, this panorama shows the city around the same time (though we're not sure of the exact year):

We wonder how many of the buildings in these pictures still remain.

[Images via manhhai]

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