Beijing - St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Joseph's Catholic Church Slideshow
St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Downloadable Pictures)
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, also known as
the South Cathedral, is a historic Roman Catholic Church.
While the original foundation of the cathedral was in 1605,
making it the oldest Catholic church in Beijing, the current
building in the Baroque style dates from 1904.
When the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrived in Beijing,
Emperor Wanli permitted him a residence slightly to the west
of the site of the current cathedral, in the Xuanwumen
district. Attached to this residence was a small chapel, in
Chinese style, with only the presence of a cross atop the
entrance to distinguish it as a church. This was at the time
referred to as the Xuanwumen Chapel. In 1650, under the
leadership of the German Jesuit Johann Adam Schall von Bell,
work on a new church building was begun on the site of the
chapel. The church then became a cathedral in 1690 when it
received its first Roman Catholic bishop and was then
enlarged in 1703. However, since then the cathedral was gone
through a few events. Firstly it was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1720. It was then damaged by fire in 1775 and
it was raised to the ground during the Boxer Rebellion of
1900.
(VirtualTourist.com)
