Holy Saviour's Cathedral
is a former
Anglican
cathedral
in
Xicheng District
of
Beijing
,
China
.
History
[
edit
]
English evangelism started in Beijing in 1862 with the arrival of missionaries
John Shaw Burdon
and Samuel Isaac Schereschewsky. In 1880, the
Diocese of North China
was founded to serve the city's growing Anglican population. The property on which the cathedral is situated was originally owned by Ying Keting, an official who worked in the Criminal Department of the
Qing Dynasty
.
Charles Perry Scott
, Bishop of the
Diocese of North China
, purchased with the intention to build a Cathedral for the burgeoning Diocese. The church was built in 1907, and is the oldest surviving Anglican church in Northern China. It was the seat of the
Diocese of North China
. Anglican worship at the cathedral ended following the
Communist takeover in 1949
. The building fell into disrepair, but was restored in 1990 by the Saiweng Information and Consulting Center. In 2003, the building was listed as a Beijing Cultural Protection Site. In 2019, the building was converted to a branch of Beijing's Mofan Bookstore.
[1]
[2]
Structure
[
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]
Architecturally, the cathedral is
cruciform
, with the north?south axis laid out as a
basilica
. Other structural aspects, such as the aisles, are also built in a typically European fashion. However, many of the interior and exterior features are Chinese in style, with the whole building being built with typical grey bricks and Chinese roof shingles that blend with the area's
Hutong
architecture. The cathedral's bell tower, situated above the
crossing
, is built in the manner of a
pagoda
. The cathedral's entrance is also built in the Chinese style, with blessings inscribed. Several memorials to past clergymen are present inside. The cathedral's interior is furnished in the Chinese style, with wooden walls and a
trussed timber roof
in blonde wood.
[2]
References
[
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]
39°54′03″N
116°21′43″E
/
39.9008°N 116.36205°E
/
39.9008; 116.36205