Xujiahui Catholic Church

Xujiahui Catholic Church is a famous Catholic Church in China. It is the Episcopal Church of the Catholic Diocese in Shanghai. Its official name is "the Church of the Virgin Mary as the mother of God".

Imitation of French medieval Gothic architecture, red brick walls, white stone columns, gray slate roof, two bell towers, north-south confrontation, towering. It is known as the first building in old Shanghai. A lot of films and TV plays are shot here. You can't go in with slippers and shorts, and you can't take pictures inside.

Xujiahui Catholic Church

Xujiahui Catholic Church is a famous Catholic Church in China. It is located at No.158 Puxi Road, Xujiahui district, Shanghai, China. It is the Bishop's Cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Shanghai, officially known as "St. Ignatius". On the side of the church are the Bishop's mansion and nunnery of the Catholic Diocese of Shanghai. The architectural style is medieval Gothic.

The cathedral was built in 1904 and completed in September 1910. The whole building is five stories high, brick and wood structure. French medieval style. On both sides of the top of the lobby are Gothic bell towers with spires. It is 50 meters high. In the hall, the virgin holds the statue of Jesus on the top of the altar, overlooking the whole hall, which is the center of the whole church. The church covers an area of 2670 square meters, with a construction area of 6670 square meters, and can accommodate more than 3000 people.

In 2013, it was listed in the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

In September 2016, it was selected into the "first batch of Chinese 20th century architectural heritage" list.

Historical evolution

In the early 17th century, Western missionaries began to work in Shanghai.

In the 18th century, the Catholic Church of China experienced many setbacks, which made the church cause in Jiangnan area in trouble. In 1840, missionaries sent Jesuit missionaries back to Jiangnan after many petitions. In 1848, the number of nearby church members was increasing, and the old church which could only accommodate more than 200 people was not enough. President nangelu of Jesuit society decided to set up a hospital in Xujiahui to provide the priests with the opportunity to stay in peace and summer every year.

Xujiahui Catholic Church was designed by architect W. M. Dowdall. In 1896, the French Shanghai construction company began to build a shed and carve stone columns.

On July 31, 1906, the construction began.

It took four years to build. The completion ceremony was held on October 22, 1910. The church is grand in scale and gorgeous in decoration. It is known as "the largest church in the Far East". It is still dedicated to Saint Ignatius to protect saints. In 1994, the old church and the Jesuit Church were jointly demolished to build the new Catholic Archdiocese building in Shanghai.

After 1949, the Catholic community in Shanghai launched an anti imperialist patriotic movement and took the road of independent Church.

In April 1960, the first Catholic Congress of Shanghai elected father zhangjiashu as the bishop of Shanghai diocese. The Episcopal ceremony was held in Xujiahui Catholic Church. Since then, the church has become the Episcopal Church, and changed to "the Virgin Mary as the mother of God", which is called the mother church of God.

In 1960, the bishop of zhangjiashu moved the Episcopal Church from Dongjiadu to Xujiahui.

During the "Cultural Revolution", the church was destroyed, the spire of the bell tower was demolished, the stained glass windows of the whole church were smashed, and it was used as the warehouse of Shanghai fruit and groceries company.

In 1979, after the church was returned to the diocese, it was restored and the first mass after the "Cultural Revolution" was held in November of that year. On the eve of Christmas in 1980, the hall was renovated. Bishop of zhangjiashu presided over the Christmas mass, and more than a thousand believers attended the mass.

In August 1982, two cross iron towers weighing 13 tons each were re installed on the clock tower.

In January 1985, the consecration ceremony of father Li sider and father Jin Luxian as assistant bishops of Shanghai diocese was held here. In February 1988, after the death of bishop zhangjiashu, his ashes were placed in the hall.

On September 25, 1989, "Xujiahui Catholic Church" was announced by Shanghai Municipal People's government as a cultural relic protection unit (Modern Architecture) and the first batch of excellent historical buildings in Shanghai.

In 2013, it was listed in the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Architectural pattern

Xujiahui Catholic Church is the Bishop's Cathedral of Shanghai Catholic diocese, officially known as "the Bishop's Cathedral of St. Ignatius". On the side of the church are the Bishop's mansion of Shanghai Catholic diocese and the nunnery. It is a medieval Gothic building, with a long cross shaped plane, facing east, with Bell towers on both sides, towering into the clouds. The church is 79 meters high and 28 meters wide, with brick and wood structure. It covers an area of 2670 square meters, with a building area of 6670 square meters, and can accommodate more than 3000 people.

The whole building is five stories high, brick and wood structure, the appearance is a typical European medieval Gothic. On both sides of the top of the hall are Gothic bell towers with double spires of brick and stone structure. The ridge of the hall is 18 meters high. The whole height of the bell tower is about 60 meters. The spire is 31 meters. The two crosses on the spire plunge into the sky. There is also a cross on the hall, which looks like a wheel - life is just like driving a wheel, which is a proper metaphor. In the middle of the hall is a plate relief, which is complex and gorgeous. From a distance, it looks like the shape of a Roman clock. The exterior structure is made of pure red brick, granite edge, graphite tile on the roof, and many stone carvings of Holy Son and God.

In the hall, there are 64 planting columns carved by Suzhou Jinshan stone, each of which is composed of 10 small columns. The floor is paved with square bricks, and the middle passage is paved with tile. The doors and windows are Gothic pointed arch, inlaid with colored glass, inlaid with patterns and statues. There are huge circular flower windows on the main wall, which are inlaid with colored glass, and the architectural style is tall and dignified. The exterior wall is painted with yellow sand cement, and the roof is equipped with copper domes of different sizes, which are peacock blue and pointed. There are 19 sacrificial platforms in the church. The main platform is 44 meters wide. It was transported from Paris on Easter in 1919. There are statues of Saint Ignatius and eight saints in the center of the platform, which are exquisitely carved and brightly colored. The horizontal axis is composed of the north and South transepts. There used to be a bell tower above the crossing point, which has high religious and artistic value. The inner top corridor, with its unique mesh design and aerodynamic principle, allows the hall with at least three floors to be free from manual cleaning of the high glass, and ensures that speaking with ordinary voice in any place of the church can reach any corner of the church. On the window of the middle veranda are said to be self-made and pasted by nuns with beautiful colors and patterns. They also represent the story of the sacred heart and the heart of the virgin.

Xujiahui Catholic Church, which can accommodate more than 3000 Catholics, is known as the "Vatican" in Shanghai. There are many mass services in the parish every morning, and there are many congregations on Sundays and important religious festivals.

Church use

Church wedding

Xujiahui Catholic Church can hold weddings. For those who yearn for solemn, sacred, romantic feeling of urban white-collar and intellectual class. The Catholic Church has always advocated the sanctity of marriage, love between husband and wife, love of life and love of life.

Wedding ceremony: guests enter the church at the same time to play music (Catholic Holy music, Wedding March), relatives and friends light candles ceremony - Pastor leads singing class to enter the church - Chairman (pastor) calls for the wedding to begin - bridesmaids, bridesmaids and brides enter the church one after another - bride's parents hold the bride to enter the Church (all rise) - bride's parents enter the church - singing class (YMCA) sings hymns (or songs about marriage) -Prayer, poetry - priest (Priest) marriage - bridegroom and bride (seal of the principal and introducer) - bridegroom and bride wear rings and vows to each other - unveil the Veil - Poetry (words of blessing) - gratitude (offering flowers or making three bows to both parents to express thanks to the guests) - Ceremony.

Worship party

There is a mass in Xujiahui Catholic Church on weekdays. There are many ceremonies on Sundays and Catholic festivals. During the four major Catholic festivals, there are often large-scale ceremonial activities, especially during Christmas.

cultural exchange

Since the reform and opening up, the church has become an important place for opening up to the outside world. Every year, Catholics from all over the world come to participate in religious activities or visit, including cardinal Hu Zhenzhong of Hong Kong, cardinal Gao bingchang of Macao, cardinal Lin Jiajun, cardinal hyme sheen of the Philippines, etc.; Archbishop of Canterbury of the Anglican Church of England, Dr. rency and Dr. Kerry, and archbishop of the Anglican Church of South Africa During his visit to Shanghai, Dr. Jiao Tu visited the hall.

According to the records, the number of believers in the church was more than 100 when it was built, including 1700 in 1901, 7000 in 1942, 8400 in 1951 and 10350 in 1998.

Travel Tips

position

158 Puxi Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai.

traffic

Bus: 926, 957, 56, 43, 816, 712, 931, 920, Nanshe special line.

Metro: Line 1, entrance 3 of Xujiahui Station.

admission ticket

Chinese PinYin : Xu Jia Hui Tian Zhu Tang