The Cathedral of Our Lady, Shuozhou () is the
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
of
Shuozhou
Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a popu ...
in
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
History
The Cathedral of Our Lady was originally built in 1913 with a
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...
style.
Since 1946, it was successively occupied by the He Long No.3 Middle School, Suimeng Military District and Shuo County Normal School.
The bell tower was smashed by the
Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
during the ten-year
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
.
The Cathedral of Our Lady was returned to the church in 1996. Renovations and rebuilding to the cathedral began in 1998 and were completed in July 2000.
Architecture
The Cathedral of Our Lady is located in the west and faces the east with a
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...
style. It is long, wide and high. It has two high bell towers.
Gallery
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral of Our Lady, Shuozhou
Roman Catholic cathedrals in China
2000 establishments in China
Roman Catholic churches completed in 2000
Gothic Revival church buildings in China
Roman Catholic churches in Shanxi