Kon Tum Wooden Church

The wooden cathedral at Kon Tum was built between 1913 and 1918 by a French missionary working with Bahnar carpenters, and the result combines two traditions deliberately: the plan and the front are Romanesque with a bell tower and rose window, and the structure is a timber frame of ca chit ironwood assembled in the manner of a Bahnar communal house, with clay and straw walls between the posts. It has stood for over a century in a climate that destroys timber, without significant metal fastening. A rong house stands in the grounds and the orphanage attached to the parish still operates.

The main sights

• A Romanesque front on a timber frame - two traditions combined.
• Ironwood posts and clay walls - built in the Bahnar manner.
• Standing since 1918 - in a climate hard on timber.
• A rong house in the grounds - the Bahnar communal form.

When to go

Year round. An hour.

Good to know

It is a working parish church and services take precedence. Interiors are dim. Kon Tum is off the main tourist routes and services are modest. The visit is short.

Nearby

Kon Ktu village is east along the Dakbla river; Pleiku is south.

Key facts