History of Dalat

Early history During the 1890s, French explorers in the area, which was then part of the French territory of Cochinchina, asked the territorial governor to create a resort center in the Dankia highlands. The governor agreed, and, in 1907, the first hotel was built.

The French endowed the city with villas and boulevards, and its Swiss charms remain today. They also built boarding schools where children from the whole of Indochina were taught by French priests, nuns and expatriates. There were seminaries of Jesuit and other orders. Two military academies were also established. All these came to an end when the North Vietnamese invaded the city. One of the seminaries was converted into a museum extolling the virtues of Communism.

During World War II, Dalat become the Capital of Federal Indochina (1939 - 1945).

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