Da Lat Cathedral (the Chicken Church): Mass times, when to visit and etiquette

What are the Mass times at Da Lat Cathedral?

Source: Diocese of Da Lat, Mass schedule for parish churches, “Chính Toà” (cathedral) row, updated December 1, 2025 (in Vietnamese).

Before you go, check the Diocese of Da Lat Mass schedule (in Vietnamese) (the “Chính Toà” row); around major feasts such as Christmas, Holy Week and Easter, also look for the parish’s own announcements. On the day, read the board beside the church door, and if it differs from this page, let us know through the contact page so we can update it.

Attending Mass or sightseeing: when should you go?

Are you going for Mass or just to look around? The two call for different timing.

• The façade only: you can view the façade from outside; access to the grounds depends on whether the gates are open. If a service or parish activity is under way, keep the entrance clear and avoid taking photos in the doorway. If you want sunny photos, check the forecast first; cloudy days give different light and colors.
• To see the nave and stained glass: do not use the last few minutes before a Mass to look around or take photos. Ask church staff (the guard at the gate or the parish office) and go in only if they say yes.
• To attend Mass: anyone may attend, Catholic or not. If you’d rather not get up early, you can choose the 5:15 pm weekday Mass. If you need a Mass in English, check with the parish before you go.
• Sunday mornings: Masses begin at 5:30, 7:00 and 8:30 am. Keep the entrance clear as worshippers arrive and leave.

If you attend Mass and are not Catholic, stay seated when the congregation goes forward for Communion. If your itinerary is tight, plan for an exterior visit; access to the interior may not be possible.

5 tips for visitors: what to wear and how to take photos

You do not need to be Catholic to visit. Inside, keep quiet and leave space for people who are praying.

1. Cover shoulders and knees. Wear sleeves, and trousers or a skirt below the knee; skip tight or see-through clothes. Da Lat is cold early and late in the day, so a jacket keeps you warm and covers your shoulders. Layering advice by temperature is in our what to wear in Da Lat guide.
2. Do not walk around or take photos during Mass. If you arrive mid-service, sit or stand at the back until it ends.
3. Silence your phone and keep your voice low. A phone ringing in a quiet church can disturb people at prayer.
4. Stay off the sanctuary (the raised area with the altar at the front), and keep out of the parish house and any area marked private.
5. Be considerate when taking photos. No flash, no close-ups of people praying, and do not block the central aisle for a shot. Follow any signs and instructions from church staff about photography.

How busy is Christmas Eve at the Chicken Church?

Very. The 2026 Christmas schedule still needs to be confirmed by the parish closer to the date. In 2025, the Christmas Eve Mass at the cathedral was announced for 8:00 to 9:15 pm on December 24, which was also the busiest stretch of the night. Crowds on Tran Phu Street kept growing as the evening went on, with thousands of people coming just to enjoy the decorations and take photos.

• To attend Christmas Eve Mass: arrive early and dress warmly. It was about 16-18°C on Christmas Eve 2025.
• For the architecture or the lights: if you want to photograph the building, come during the day. If you want to see the lights on the evening of December 24, check that year’s Mass schedule before choosing when to go.
• By motorbike or car: Tran Phu Street around the church is packed with people that night. Park a little further away and walk in.

This December also overlaps with the Da Lat Flower Festival (December 19-31, 2026). Weather, which week to pick and the month’s events are in our Da Lat weather in December guide.

What is worth seeing inside?

The church is built on a cross-shaped plan, 65 m long and 14 m at its widest. Inside, a tall central nave is flanked by two lower side aisles, separated by columns carrying round arches. The style is Romanesque, with many Gothic-style stained glass windows. Inside, look for the stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross reliefs along the walls.

• Stained glass: there are 70 stained glass windows, 38 of them with pictures made by the workshop of artist Louis Balmet in Grenoble, France, showing Gospel scenes and saints. In 2021 the parish fitted new panels and restored the old ones.
• The 14 Stations of the Cross, relief panels along the walls, each 1 m wide and 0.8 m high, by Vietnamese sculptor Xuan Thi.
• A statue of St. Nicholas, the patron saint, above the rear door, facing the altar.

The rooster on the tower

The rooster on top of the bell tower is what gives the church its popular name. The tower is 47 m tall, and the rooster is cast in bronze, 0.66 m long and 0.58 m tall. It sits at the very top in place of a weathervane arrow and is also described as a lightning rod in the shape of a rooster. It is usually explained as a symbol of repentance, recalling St. Peter denying Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

Before you leave, look out from the main door: it faces Langbiang mountain, and across Tran Phu Street a statue of the Good Shepherd faces the church.

Where is it, how do you get there, and what is nearby?

The cathedral is at 13 Tran Phu Street in central Da Lat. Search “Da Lat Cathedral” on Google Maps for directions. Xuan Huong Lake, Da Lat Market and Lam Vien Square are all between a few hundred meters and about 1 km away, so you can walk.

Walking saves you the hunt for parking. If you ride, the church grounds are fenced, so ask where to park before you leave your bike. Rental conditions and common fines are in our renting a motorbike in Da Lat guide.

Pairing the cathedral with another stop

You can pair the cathedral with one other stop in the same half day: the night market, the railway station or Palace III.

• Morning: see the façade, then walk down to Xuan Huong Lake or head to the Da Lat railway station, another French-era building from the same decade.
• Late afternoon: see the façade, then walk to Da Lat Market as the night market stalls go up. Opening times and tips are in our Da Lat night market guide.
• Rainy day: pair it with Bao Dai’s Palace III, which keeps its original furnishings and works well in the rain.

The cathedral is one stop in the city center cluster of our places to visit in Da Lat guide.

When was it built, and why is it called a cathedral?

Bishop Colomban Dreyer, the Holy See’s envoy to French Indochina, laid the foundation stone on July 19, 1931. Eleven years later, on January 25, 1942, the church was inaugurated. It became a cathedral, the seat of a bishop, in 1960, when the Diocese of Da Lat was created.

Read more: how it was built, later changes and an archive photo

• In 1918 a rest house for missionary priests was built on the central hill; it is now the parish house. The Da Lat parish was founded in 1920. A smaller second church went up in 1922-1924 and was taken down around 1969.
• The present church went up in three stages. The first, with the sanctuary and transepts, was finished in March 1932 and used from Easter that year. The nave and bell tower followed in one 15-month push, from October 7, 1940 to January 14, 1942.
• It cost about 200,000 piastres, mostly raised from donations; at the end of 1943 the parish still owed more than 85,000.
• Four bells hang 25 m up the tower, tuned to C, E, F and G; the largest weighs 415 kg.
• The walls were whitewashed pale pink in 1991 and repainted pale yellow in 2008. In 2021 the parish fitted 69 new stained glass panels and restored 38 old ones.
• The church is linked to the 1972 Vietnamese Christmas song “Bài thánh ca buồn” (A Sad Hymn) by Nguyen Vu.

Sources: Diocese of Da Lat, cathedral history page (January 7, 2024); Da Lat Gazetteer; Thanh Nien (December 24, 2025).