The largest fortress in Indochina

Rach Cat Fort, also known as Rach Coc Fort, is located in Long Huu Dong Commune, Can Duoc District, Long An Province. The military fortress was built by the French colonialists in 1903, a very massive coastal defense fortress with unique architecture and a strategic position in defense as well as in attack. It can withstand heavy artillery shells; and is equipped with the most modern artillery in the early 20th century.

Once the most modern and sophisticated fortress in Indochina

In 1900, facing the threat of World War I spreading, the French reinforced the defense lines of the southwestern coast of France and the defense system of the fortresses along the German-French border. They installed new types of guns with a range of up to 20km with explosive shells like torpedoes, capable of destroying large warships, and built many solid fortifications.

In Vietnam, after occupying all six provinces of Cochinchina, the French consolidated the defense system based on the forts left by the Nguyen Dynasty , modernizing it with bunkers and fortresses with the most modern guns in the world at that time.

Rach Cat Fort has a prime location at the mouth of three rivers Rach Cat - Vam Co - Soai Rap connecting to the seaport of Vam Lang. This location is next to the waterway for goods exchange from the Southwest to Saigon - Cho Lon and the Southeast provinces and vice versa. At the same time, it is located on the waterway from the sea to Saigon, the routes can pass through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand. The mission of this fortress is not only to control all water traffic into Saigon but also to control a part of Vung Tau sea.

Rach Cat "changed fate" in peacetime

After more than a hundred years of existence, the once-famous fortress now hides in the middle of a green mangrove forest , instead of having a panoramic view from the roof of the fortress like before. The outside landscape has changed, but the overall structure of Rach Cat fortress remains intact, and on the fortress itself, many hundred-year-old traces are still clearly visible. On the two 12cm thick steel doors, there are still many bullet holes, the bars are still intact, and the hinges are still fitted tightly on the wall.

The fortress has great historical significance and is located in the middle of lush green nature with vast mangrove forests and a system of canals typical of the lower reaches of the rivers. Around it are tourist attractions, the most famous of which is the national historical site of the Hundred Pillar House, built by Hue artisans more than a hundred years ago. The rice fields of Nang Thom Cho Dao, Chua Nui and Ton Thanh pagodas are associated with the Van Te Nghia Si Can Giuoc and the patriotic poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu.

With its majestic beauty, this artillery site became the setting for over 10 films after 1975, including the famous film Southern Land. Rach Cat station is therefore considered to have the potential to become a particularly attractive tourist destination. Long An province has also launched a tourism project and invited investors, and currently the locality has a policy to invest in tourism development on an area of ​​dozens of hectares.

Currently, there is a unit of Military Region 7 stationed here, so to visit, permission from the authorities is required. It is known that after the policy of developing tourism at the Rach Cat fort relic, Long An province is working with Military Region 7 (the unit managing the fort) to calculate land handover plans and then plans to develop tourism at this relic. Both rich in historical value and architectural value of ancient fortifications in Europe, Rach Cat fort has been ranked as a national relic.