The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (圣母无染原罪始胎堂), commonly known as Shigu Road Cathedral (石鼓路天主教堂) to the locals, is a late 19th-century church in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

that serves as 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 the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanking The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nanjing ( la, Archidioecesis Nanchinensis) (Jiangsu) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in China. History It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Nanjing ...

. It is located in the centre of the city at 112 Shigu Road. First built in 1870 during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, it was later severely damaged during the Northern Expedition War and had to be rebuilt by the Chinese government in 1928. Since the 1930s it has served as the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Nanjing and is the only Catholic church within the city of Nanjing today. In 1982 it was also listed as a

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Provincial Historic Site.

Beginnings

The first church in Nanjing was established by the Italian

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and one of the first missionaries to

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 ...

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...

, in 1599, on one of the three occasions that he came to Nanjing. He bought up a private residence on the west side of the city at a place called Luosi Zhuanwan (罗寺转湾 or later written 螺丝转湾), and with some minor modifications it was soon a centre of religious activities. It was not to last long however, for in 1618 there was an imperial decree banning the practice of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the church was torn down.

Reconstruction

In 1870 a new Romanesque church was built by the French Jesuit Adrien de Carrère on a larger site that included the former site of Ricci's church and also the ruins of an old

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple. It was consecrated as the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. During the Northern Expedition War (1926–1927) it suffered severe damages and was even used as a stables for a period of time. Afterwards, in 1928 it was restored by the National Government and its appearance today is much the same as it was after this last restoration, despite having been somewhat damaged and closed as well during the

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 ...

References

* * :zh:石鼓路天主教堂 (Shigu Road Catholic Church), Chinese Wikipedia, accessdate=2008-09-22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Nanjing) Inmaculate Religious buildings and structures in Nanjing Roman Catholic churches in Jiangsu

Beginnings

Reconstruction

See also

References