Domaine de Marie church, a pink church on the top of Mai Anh hill is a destination that many tourists want to visit when coming to Da Lat.
Domaine de Marie church
As a religious work, associated with the ups and downs of the “city of thousands of flowers”, Domaine de Marie church, along with green pine trees, tells the story of a beautiful mountain town intact in everyone's memory. It is the hill with several varieties of Wild Himalayan cherry (Prunus cerasoides) around the church that locals also call Mai Anh church.
In the large campus, the complex of works, including the chapel and two rows of monasteries remain the same. Unlike many other churches in Da Lat, Mai Anh church is impressive, with its pink colour covering all three main buildings, dotted with white or dark red lines. This is a characteristic that has remained unchanged for nearly 80 years, making visitors think of the colour of Wild Himalayan cherries blooming every spring.
Domaine de Marie church reflects a strong influence of Western classical architecture, mixed with local culture, exuding majesty but still remaining familiar. The church is ancient with its walls built of split stone lined up to the level of the windowsill and the high windows fitted with layers of colourful stained glass shining bright light within.
Besides colourful doorways, visitors cannot help but pay attention to the round rose-shaped pattern placed in the centre of the isosceles triangle of the church's facade. The local imprint is the beauty of the roofs modelled after the communal houses of the Central Highlands villages with wide roofs, steep slopes, and traditional red-brown tiled roofs.
In the middle of the campus is a large garden filled with flowers and trees that are taken care of daily. Special spaces here include a place to display and sell handmade products made by orphans who are raised at the church.
From the top of the hill, you can see the street lights throughout the city. In the cold mountain town, the pink colour of the church, along with sweaters and scarves will warm everyone's heart in the final days of the year.
