Chapter 54 Section 7 Guangzhou Sacred Heart Cathedral

Guangzhou Sacred Heart Cathedral, also known as Shishi, is located on Yide West Road, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. After the Second Opium War, France forced the Qing government to lease land to build churches according to the Treaty of Tianjin.This Catholic church built by the French Catholic Church was founded in the second year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1863 AD), lasted 25 years, and was completed in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888 AD). It is the largest existing Gothic Catholic church in China.The whole building is made of granite, so people also call it "stone chamber".

At the front of the church, two towering stone towers pointing straight to the sky, symbolize the sublimation to heaven and conversion to God.The total height of the stone tower is 57.95 meters, of which 29.28 meters are from the sky of the platform to the tip of the tower, and a group of big bells are hung on it.The chapel is spacious and magnificent, with a depth of 78.69 meters and a width of 35.5 meters from east to west.The interior of the church is built into a series of arched vaults with cross lines, and the pattern is quite beautiful.The main entrance and the surrounding doors and windows are all in the form of palms together, inlaid with red, blue, green and other dark patterned glass, which can avoid the strong outdoor light, which is not only harmonious and beautiful, but also makes the light in the hall soft, effectively highlighting the solemnity and solemnity of the church. And mysterious religious atmosphere.

The site of the church was originally the ruins of the administrative office of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty. When it was built, the church originally covered an area of ​​40,000 square meters.There are hospitals, nursery halls and dormitories for bishops and priests nearby.These have since been repurposed for other purposes.