Cua Bac Cathedral was official named “Church of the Queen of Saints”, suggesting the Virgin Mary is the Queen of all Saints. It later became known as Hanoi Blessed Virgin Cathedral and because it is situated at the northern gate of Thang Long Citadel, it is also called Cua Bac Cathedral.

Construction of Cua Bac Cathedral began in 1925 on a piece of land stretching from Phan Dinh Phung Street to Nguyen Bieu Street and was completed five years later.

It has the shape of a large elongated rectangle with two parallel rows of pillars on the two sides, which is divided into two halls, the smaller hall for welcoming people to the cathedral and the bigger hall for the congregation during mass. Between the two halls there is a large area under the vault, on the left side of which is the worship area for saints and on the right side is the sitting room where the priests receive guests. The cathedral’s interior is designed and fully decorated in the style of European churches.

French architect Ernest Hébrard created an unsymmetrical architectural space with a high-rise bell tower on the main hall, which gives Cua Bac Cathedral special features compared with the solemn symmetrical architecture of most Catholic works built by the French in Vietnam . Some people said it was an exceptional creation of Hébrard to harmonize the cathedral with the surrounding scenery. In fact it was a skilful exploitation of the church complex principles in the Renaissance period.

In addition to the bell tower as a focal point, there is a vault in the central area. The roof of the bell tower, the vaults and other facilities are tiled, similar to the roofs of the traditional pagodas and temples in the rural areas of Vietnam . The windows and air-holes have roofs, except the large stained-glass windows. Green trees create a closed and friendly landscape.

The combination of the traditional Oriental architecture and decorative patterns of the traditional Catholic churches in harmony with the surrounding natural landscape make a good impression of a Catholic work. Cua Bac Cathedral is always considered as a monument to the fusion of European and Vietnamese architectural styles. Cua Bac Cathedral has been repaired several times but it still retains its original and ancient features.