Wanghailou Church

Wanghailou church is a famous site of "Tianjin religious plan" in modern Chinese history. The original Wanghai tower was built during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. It was once a place for the emperors of Qing Dynasty to visit when they visited Tianjin.

The interior floor is decorated with black and white porcelain tiles. The church also had a flat topped tower, and later a small turret was set up in the four corners of the chapel. There is a chanting tower behind the church.

Inside the church, the windows are arched with spires. The windows are made of colorful glass with geometric patterns, on which the story of Jesus' death is embedded.

Wanghailou Church

Wanghailou church, also known as wanghailou Church in Tianjin, is located on the north side of the west end of Shizilin street in Hebei District of Tianjin, obliquely opposite to Shizilin bridge. It is named after wanghailou, the former site of wanghailou church. It was built in 1869, with European Gothic architectural style. It was the first church built after Catholicism was introduced into Tianjin. In 1870, the "Tianjin church case" shocked China and foreign countries.

In 1988, the State Council announced it as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

On December 2, 2017, it was selected as "the second batch of Chinese 20th century architectural heritage".

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Reconstruction of original site

Wanghailou church is located in Shizilin bridge on the East Bank of Haihe River, Hebei District, Tianjin. The French Catholic Church was built in 1869 and burned down by the people of Tianjin in the "Tianjin religious case" in June of the next year. In 1897, the imperialists used the Qing government's reparations to rebuild the ruins and build additional turrets.

It was burned again in the Boxer Movement in 1900. The existing Wanghai building was rebuilt in 1903 with "gengzi indemnity". The building is located in the north to the south. It is made of green brick and wood. It is 47 meters long, 15 meters wide and 22 meters high. There are three towers on the front in the shape of a penholder. Inside the church, there are two rows of columns in parallel, which are three corridor type, without compartments and partitions. The inner window is arched with a pointed top.

Wanghailou church, the window is composed of colorful glass geometric pattern, the ground is decorated with porcelain tiles, gorgeous. It was seriously damaged by the earthquake in 1976. It was renovated in 1983. In 1988, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Brick wood structure

The plan of Wanghai building catholic church is rectangular, 55 meters long and 16 meters wide, with a construction area of 812 square meters and an area of 3000 square meters. The hall, 10 meters high, is a stone based brick and wood structure building with a blue brick wall facing southwest. There are three flat top towers in the front of the building, which are in the shape of a mountain. The tower in the middle is the highest, 12 meters high, which is a pen frame structure. Except for the middle tower, most of the buildings are two floors.

There are 8 animal heads on the top of the towers on both sides, which are specially used for drainage when it rains. The rain can gush out from the animal head. Inside the church, there are two rows of court columns, without compartments and partitions. There are buttresses on both sides of the entrance. There are three corridors inside. The middle corridor is slightly higher than the side corridor, which belongs to basilica type. There are eight columns on the East and west sides of the main hall of the central tower, supporting the arched roof. The main altar of the Virgin Mary is at the north end, and the statues of Jesus and Ju Yang are on the left and right. In addition, the crucifixion pictures are hung on the walls around the church, and the top and wall of the whole building are painted.

The doors and windows and the top of the hall have pointed arches. Inside the church, the windows are arched with spires. The windows are made of colorful glass with geometric patterns, on which the story of Jesus' death is embedded. The interior floor is decorated with black and white porcelain tiles.

The church also had a flat topped tower, and later a small turret was set up in the four corners of the chapel. There is a chanting tower behind the church.

The reign of Emperor Kangxi

Wanghailou church is a famous site of "Tianjin religious plan" in modern Chinese history. The original Wanghai tower was built during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. It was once a place for the emperors of Qing Dynasty to visit when they visited Tianjin. This area is an important road for land and water transportation.

Next to Wanghai tower, there are temples such as Chongxi temple and Wanghai temple. After the second Opium War, Britain, France and other countries signed the "Beijing treaty" with the Qing government, which gave France the "right" to "rent and buy land in all provinces" and "build for themselves" in China.

In 1862, France established the "Permanent Tenancy Right" in the area of wanghailou with an area of 15 mu. In December 1869, the French missionary, evangelical Xie, demolished the Chongxi temple and built a large Catholic Church on the original foundation. This is a typical Gothic building, rectangular, with three bell towers in front, like three pen holders.

French missionaries named the church "after the victory of the Virgin Mary" and engraved the name on the marble on the front of the bell tower. Local people call this church "wanghailou church".

In the summer of 1870, thirty or forty children in mercy church, just across the river from wanghailou church, were tortured to death due to the abuse of French missionaries and nuns (which proved to be nothing and seriously contrary to Catholic doctrine) and epidemic plague. At that time, there were several cases of child abduction in Tianjin. After the criminals were arrested, they all confessed to being instigated by the church people of wanghailou (it was finally found out that this was a false accusation). Then the Academy began to close, the gentry gathered one after another, and the anti foreign religion posters soon covered the streets. On June 21, thousands of people demonstrated in front of wanghailou church. French consul Feng Daye, with his secretary Simon, clashed with Tianjin magistrate Liu Jie and injured his entourage.

The crowd killed Feng Daye and Simon on the spot. After that, the gongs rang, and the crowd flocked to wanghailou church, killing Xie Zhengsheng and more than 30 other priests and nuns, and setting fire to wanghailou church, French Consulate and mercy hall. This is the process of the outbreak of "Tianjin teaching plan".

Traffic information

Wanghailou church is located on jinzhonghe street, near Shizilin bridge and Jingang bridge. You can take bus No. 675, 653, 804, 633, 600, 903, 907, 856, 14 and 15 to get there.

Wanghailou church was suspended from use by Tianjin Religious Bureau on December 24, 2006. It was repaired before Christmas in 2011 and has been put into public use.

Address: Shizilin Qiaokou, East Bank of Haihe River, Hebei District

Now he is father Shiyan and father Gao shaocang

Mass time:

Weekdays: 7:00

Sunday: 6:00, 7:30, 19:00

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Address: 292 Shizilin street, Hebei District, Tianjin

Longitude: 117.1951291114

Latitude: 39.14779031131

Tel: 022-26351172

Tour time: 1 hour

Traffic information: take No.15, 172, 461, 574, 600 inner ring road, 600 outer ring road, 633, 653, 675, 681, 804, 849, 856, 863, 903, 907, 908, 954 to wanghailou station.

Ticket information: Free

Opening hours: weekday mass 7:00, Sunday Mass 6:00, 7:30, 19:00

Chinese PinYin : Wang Hai Lou Jiao Tang