In ancient Vietnamese culture, there was usually a holy temple in every village to worship the village guardian who helped protect the local people from super-natural forces and their enemies.
The village temple was also a place where various cultural and religious activities took place.

Over the years, due to historical changes, many such temples no longer exist. Fortunately, in the modern city of Vung Tau, there are still some old  temples which are well preserved. The Thang Tam temple, for instance, is one of the temples that not only has the most common features as other temples but also represents the unique characteristics of the local people.


The Thang Tam’s Holy Temple was built in the time of Minh Mang Dynasty to worship three men who contributed to the establishment of the first three villages in Vung Tau. As legend goes, under the reign of king Gia Long, when Malay pirates built a base in Vung Tau and subsequently became a danger to traders in Gia Dinh city ( now Saigon), the king sent 3 army companies led by Pham Van Dinh,  Le Van Loc and Ngo Van Huyen to crack down on the pirates. The pirates were ousted. The three leaders and their troupes were given the land of Vung Tau as a reward. The men decided to split the land into three villages named Thang Nhat (First village) administered by Mr. Pham Van Dinh, Thang Nhi ( Second village) administered by Mr. Le Van Loc and Thang Tam administered by Mr. Ngo Van Huyen. Today, these three men are worshipped in the temples of the three villages.

In addition to its historical and cultural values, the Thang Tam’s Holy Temple keeps and maintains festivals that colorfully show national characters and traditions. Annually, the temple festival formally takes place from 17th to 20th of the second month in the lunar calendar

Please contact Mr. Tien for Vung Tau City Tours 
Mobile: +84 918 386 520
Email: gm@oilgas.vn