Wuhu Catholic Church

Wuhu Catholic Church

Wuhu Catholic Church is a large Roman Catholic Church located at 28 Jihe street, Wuhu City Center, Anhui Province. It was designed and built by the French in 1887. It is a brick, wood and stone mixed structure. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Ode

A church can be called a classic of architectural art combining Eastern and Western cultures.

A church is a model of cultural exchange between China and the West.

A church, a frozen history that will continue.

She is Wuhu Catholic Church.

Historical evolution

At the end of the 19th century, after the signing of the Sino British Yantai treaty, Wuhu became a trading port. A large number of foreigners came to Jiangcheng for business and residence, and missionaries from various countries also came to preach. In 1883, Jin Shiyu, a French Jesuit and priest of ningguofu, came to Wuhu to buy the land of he'er mountain, and began to design and build the church in 1887. A few years later, in 1891, a shocking "Wuhu case" took place here. In May 1891, the church clashed with the local people, and the unfinished church was set on fire. After that, the Qing government paid 120000 taels of silver to the French side, so the church expanded and rebuilt in the original place, and finally completed in June 1895.

After the Anti Japanese War and the cultural revolution, the church was damaged again and rebuilt in 1983. The plane of the Catholic Church is Latin "cross", and the architectural style is Roman style. The left and right bell towers on the front are about 18 meters high. Between the bell towers is the top of the church, on which stands the holy image of Jesus. The upright body and flat arms cross into a "cross" about 5 meters high, which means salvation, and the whole body is white, which means holiness. From the east to the west, the church adopts a long cross shaped plane, 17 meters wide, 27 meters at the widest, 39 meters long from east to west, and 29 meters at the highest part of the tower. Semicircular arch structure is the basic element of its architectural composition. There are three sacrificial platforms at the intersection of the vertical corridor and the horizontal corridor. The center is St. Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus. On the left side is the Virgin Mary, and on the right side is the Son Jesus. The walls are painted with "Bible" color stories.

In 1847, after the Opium War, the Catholic Jesuit Church returned to China. In 1847, Xujiahui was selected to establish the headquarters of the Catholic missionary District in Jiangnan, including the Bishop's mansion, the big and small monasteries, two nunneries (the salvation society and the holy clothes Society), Xujiahui library, weather station, Xuhui public school (later known as Xuhui middle school, men's middle school), Qiming women's middle school, and the nursery And so on a series of institutions, take this as the base to carry out educational administration in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The Bishop's Court of Anhui Province is located in Wuhu Catholic Church. The scale of Wuhu Catholic Church in East China was second only to that of Xujiahui Catholic Church in Shanghai.

Memorabilia

In 1887, it was built on Mount crane by French missionaries

In 1891, the "Wuhu religious case" broke out, and the church was destroyed by the local people

In 1891, the Qing government and the French Consulate in Shanghai agreed to rebuild the original site with 130000 taels of silver

In 1928, Shanghai Catholic Diocese set up a pastoral area in Anhui Province, and Wuhu Catholic Church was set up as the main church

After 1949, the Catholic Church of China established Wuhu Catholic Diocese

After 1983, Wuhu Municipal Government repaired it many times and has been using it up to now

The 2006 consecration ceremony of cardinal Liu Xin of Anhui Catholic Diocese of China was held in Wuhu Catholic Church

Surrounding environment

Wuhu Catholic Church is located on a hillside facing the Yangtze River. It has been standing there for more than a century. During this period, western culture was introduced into Wuhu, and various functional buildings were built in Wuhu. Not far from Wuhu Catholic Church is the former Wuhu customs building. Wuhu Customs was the first port opening customs in Anhui Province, which was ruled by British colonists for nearly half a century. In addition, all kinds of modern buildings in Wuhu City have been well protected, and some have been developed into tourist attractions.

It is worth mentioning that the campus of Wuhu Mechanical School, which is close to the church, uses the modern architectural complex of the original church, which completely preserves the modern Gothic architectural style, so it is worth seeing.

The profound meaning of shepherd sculpture

People who have been to Jihe square will notice a stone sculpture on the square. The statue shows a group of sheep around a middle-aged man, who holds a lamb in one hand and feeds other sheep with the other hand, while looking at the sheep with caring eyes. Father Shen said that the statue was set up when the government built the square at the beginning of this century. It shows the story of shepherds in the Bible.

In the gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, Jesus tells a story: it is said that one day, a man was grazing 100 sheep on the grass, but when he wanted to go back, he counted and found that there were only 99 sheep and one was missing. So he quickly put down the 99 sheep and looked for the lost lamb everywhere. Finally, he succeeded in finding the sheep. Joy, this person holding the lamb refused to put down, the kind of excited mood than the 99 sheep around even better. When he returned to the village, his neighbors knew about it and came to congratulate him on finding the lost lamb. Father Shen said that this story actually shows that we human beings, like lambs, often "lose" ourselves, and Jesus came to the world to save those "lost Lambs". He told people that saving a lost person should be happier and more meaningful than having many people who do not make mistakes.

Related information

In 1883, Joseph seckinger, a French Jesuit and priest of ningguofu, came to Wuhu and bought the land of Mount Hor. In 1887, the Jesuit society was built and hospitalized. In 1889, the construction of the church began, and Ni huailun, bishop of Jiangnan diocese, laid the foundation for the church. In May 1891, Wuhu church case happened, and the church which was about to be completed was burned. After that, he received 120000 taels of compensation, so he expanded the scale of reconstruction in the original place and completed it in June 1895, which was consecrated by Bishop Ni huailun.

With a construction area of 1300 square meters, the church is the largest church outside Shanghai in Jiangnan parish (Jiangsu and Anhui provinces). It faces the East and West, backs the mountain and faces the river. It is 39 meters long, with a pair of bell towers 29 meters high and a 5-meter-high white marble statue of Jesus in the middle. After its completion, the church became the second missionary center of Jiangnan diocese after Shanghai, known as the second Catholic Church in East China (the first is the Archdiocese of St. ina in Xujiahui, Shanghai). In 1921, it became the Episcopal Church of Anhui Catholic Diocese. After anqing diocese and Bengbu diocese were separated out in 1930, it continued to be the Episcopal Church of Wuhu diocese and was taken over by the Spanish Jesuits.

It was used for other purposes in the cultural revolution of 1966. It was restored and opened in 1983, but no longer has bishops stationed. In 2000, Wuhu Municipal government built Jihe square in front of the church. In 2003, the church was overhauled. In 2004, the municipal government brightened the Catholic Church again, making it an excellent tourist attraction in Wuhu. In the same year, Wuhu Catholic Church was listed as a provincial cultural relic protection unit and declared as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

traffic

Jihe street is located in Jinghu District of Wuhu, and Jihe square is directly opposite.

The city bus, taxi can reach, bus 2, 8, 13, etc.

Address: Jinghu District, Wuhu City, Anhui Province

Longitude: 118.362097

Latitude: 31.329235

Chinese PinYin : Wu Hu Tian Zhu Jiao Tang