National Key Historical and Cultural Heritage Protection Unit
Sacred Heart Cathedral has a history of over 130 years, and is the most magnificent and distinctive cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Guangzhou. It started construction in 1863 and was completed in 1888, taking 25 years to complete. It was named "Siaksat Cathedral ", "the Siaksat Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus", or "Siaksat Sacred Heart Cathedral", for all of its walls and pillars were made of granite.
The Cathedral is located at Yide Lu, Yuexiu District. It is the largest cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Guangzhou, the largest existing stone architecture of twin-pinnacle Gothic style in China, the largest stone Catholic architecture in Southeast Asia, and one the world's four whole-stone Gothic-style church architectures, which can rival the world famous Notre Dame de Paris, France.
The Cathedral is based on a French cathedral design made of the granite produced in Guangdong and the colored casement windows from France. It was first under the command of a French designer for construction and then taken over by Cai Xiao, the headman of Jiexi stonemasons as the project did not go smoothly. Many Chinese elements then were added to the project, including the Cantonese rilievo and patterns on screens, the Chinese lionhead sculpts on sinkholes, etc. This made the Cathedral a unique statement of both the Gothic style of the European Renaissance and that of Chinese traditional architectural touches of that period.
The construction was so difficult that it took 25 years and 500,000 francs to complete the 2754-square-meter cathedral. In 1888, the Cathedral won the good fame of being the "Notre Dame de Paris in the Far East" and was officially completed in that year.. However, the granite cathedral did not stand up to the destruction of wars and disturbances. In 1938 and 1939, the Japanese forces and Kuomintang's Army bombed Guangzhou, burning down several cathedral facilities.
After the reform and opening up, the State, Guangdong Provincial Government and Guangzhou Municipal Government appropriated funds one after another to maintain it. In 1996, it was enlisted as the National Key Historical and Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.
※ Opening Hours: 8:00 A.M. – 5:30 P.M., every day
※ Mass Time: 6:30 A.M., 7:00 A.M., on Monday-Saturday
7:00 P.M. on Saturday evening (in mandarin Chinese)
6:30 A.M., 8:30 A.M., 10:30 P.M., on Sunday (in English)
※ Address: Jiubuqian 56, Yide Lu, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
※ Tel: 83336737
※ Admission: Free
※ Transportation:
· Metro: Haizhu Square, Line 2
· Bus: take 194, 4, 40, 58, 8, 238, 823, 82, 86, 61 to Yidexzhong Stop/Daxin Lu (Jiaoyun Hospital) Stop
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