What Hanoi prison was nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton' by American POWs?

Hỏa Lò Prison was the Hanoi prison nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by American POWs.

Located in central Hanoi, Hỏa Lò was built by French colonial authorities in the late 19th century to imprison Vietnamese political prisoners. Its name means roughly “fiery furnace,” a reference associated with the area’s traditional pottery production. After the 1954 end of French rule, North Vietnam used the prison for political detainees and captured American airmen.

American prisoners used the ironic nickname “Hanoi Hilton” for the facility, evoking a hotel while describing a place of captivity, interrogation, illness, and harsh treatment. John McCain was among the U.S. airmen held there after his 1967 shoot-down.

Most of the original prison was demolished in the 1990s, but the gatehouse and part of the complex remain as the Hỏa Lò Prison Museum. The site’s history therefore spans both French colonial repression and the Vietnam War POW experience.