![St Mary Cathedral Rangoon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/St_Mary_Cathedral_Rangoon.JPG)
Saint Mary's Cathedral or Immaculate Conception Cathedral is a
Catholic
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 ...
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 ...
located on the corner of
Bogyoke Aung San Road
Bogyoke Aung San Road ( my, ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အောင်ဆန်းလမ်း, formerly Montgomery Road) is a major road of southern Yangon, Burma. It crosses the city in a west–east direction, running parallel with Maha Band ...
and
Bo Aung Kyaw Street
Bo Aung Kyaw Street or Road, formerly Sparks Street is a major street, passing south–north through Kyauktada Township and Botataung Township in southern Yangon, Burma. The street begins at an intersection near the Yangon River with Strand Road ...
in
Botahtaung Township,
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
.
The cathedral's exterior, of red brick, consists of spires and a
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
. It was designed by Dutch architect
Joseph Cuypers
Josephus Theodorus Joannes Cuypers (10 June 1861, Roermond - 20 January 1949, Meerssen) was a Dutch architect; primarily known for his Catholic churches. Life and work
He was born to the architect, Pierre Cuypers, and his wife, Antoinette née ...
, son of
Pierre Cuypers
Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. M ...
.
The cathedral is the largest in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. Located on the grounds of the cathedral is Basic Education High School No. 6, which is locally known as "
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
's High School", although it has no religious affiliation with the
Catholic Church
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 ...
today.
History of the origin and construction
Construction began in 1895 and was completed 19 November 1899 under a land grant from the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, whilst
Lower Burma
Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...
was a province of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. During the
1930 Rangoon earthquake, St. Mary's Cathedral suffered little damage and it withstood the Japanese invasion during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. However, the cathedral's
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were damaged during the
Allied invasion of Rangoon.
Bishop Paul Bigandet's work for a new cathedral
For some time before his death,
Paul Bigandet
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
MEP (1856-1894), Vicar Apostolic of Burma, started planning of a new and larger cathedral, as the Catholic community in the city was growing. It was decided that the new structure should take the form of a metropolitan cathedral of considerable size and of the best architectural design.
A suitable piece of land measuring over fifteen acres east of St. Paul's High School was found, and the Bishop submitted an application to the Government of Burma, asking permission to sell, as a freehold, the site of the old cathedral, with a view to the proceeds being entirely applied towards the expenditure of erecting the new cathedral.
The concession of the land applied for was, in the Chief Commissioner's opinion, excessive, but he was prepared to recommend that the government should sanction the grant of so much of the remaining portion "on either side of St. Paul's school as is at the disposal of the Government: viz, about five subsidiary buildings, provided that the site of the present Cathedral is relinquished to the Government."
The Bishop in his reply pointed out that his plea to sell the site of the old cathedral was based on similar concessions made by the government, only a few years previously, to other Christian communities. It was for the government to decide whether the Catholic community should be treated with equal liberality.
Two months later, on 23 January 1893, the French Bishop was informed that the Government of India sanctioned the proposal to sell the site of the cathedral in Barr Street and to appropriate the proceeds for the erection of a new one. Just prior to the commencement of this project, Bishop Bigandet died.
Bishop Alexandre Cardot and a new cathedral
Bishop Bigandet was succeeded by Bishop
Alexandre Cardot Alexandre may refer to:
* Alexandre (given name)
* Alexandre (surname)
* Alexandre (film)
See also
* Alexander
* Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of:
* Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (disambiguation)"
* Idálio Ale ...
MEP (1893–1925). A deed of grant was executed and signed by the Secretary to the Commissioner of the Revenue Department and by Bishop Cardot. No time was lost in commencing the foundations of the future edifice.
Under the supervision of Mr. H. Hoyne-Fox, consulting architect to the Burmese Government, plans for a Cathedral of the Byzantine model was drawn up. These plans provided for the erection of a dome over the junction of the nave, choir and transepts. As the first efforts to sink the foundation resulted in the discovery of a marshy and yielding substratum, it was decided to drive down into the substratum a series of
pyinkado piles, eighteen feet long and three feet in girth as a basis upon which to build. This tedious work was started in June, 1895, and concluded on 1 January 1899. While these important changes were in progress, Bishop Cardot, at the urgent advice of his doctors, was compelled to go back to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Mr Hoyne-Fox was proceeding on long leave, and there was no one to replace him in carrying on the work of supervisor and consulting architect. The Bishop, therefore, was asked to search in Europe for an architect.
Father Hendrick Janzen and Bishop Cardot
Among the students assembled for
Ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...
, one was noticeable for his pallid and worn aspect and emaciated figure. Bishop Cardot enquired as to his identity and learned that Rev. Father Janzen (30 September 1858 – 1 Aug. 1911) had been sent home on account of his suffering from tuberculosis two years previously.
Father Janzen had studied in the "
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
" under Dr.
Pierre Cuypers
Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. M ...
, a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
architect, who designed many of the catholic churches built in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, as well as the
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
at Amsterdam. Father Janzen had collaborated with Dr. Cuyper's son, Joseph Cuypers, himself an architect, in the erection of the Amsterdam museum.
Bishop Cardot prevailed upon the Superiors of the
Paris Foreign Missions Society
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
to allow Father Janzen to accompany him back to Rangoon. Father Janzen went to his native Netherlands to consult his old classmate, Dr. Cuypers, Jr. who prepared a new plan for a French Catholic Cathedral in
Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style. In November, 1898, Bishop Cardot and Father Janzen arrived at Rangoon.
Father Hendrick Janzen and a new cathedral
To adapt the existing foundation to the new plan, Father Janzen set about to extend the first plan. The altered structure was to be thirty feet longer and capable of seating 1,500 people. Thus, the size of the cathedral was in length and in breath. As a basis, a layer of sand nine feet in depth was substituted for pyinkado piles while an additional hundred of the latter was driven down to strengthen and support the rest. The cornerstone of
white marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...
was solemnly blessed and laid by Bishop Cardot on 19 November 1899.
Father Janzen found only bricks and cement, an army of untrained coolies and a few Chinese maistries. The secret of Father Janzen's construction lay in his close and constant supervision and in his patience and perseverance. Never tired of training and directing his subordinates, he simplified their labor by providing them with wooden rules, frames, and other devices to render their operations more mechanical and exact. By the aid of reinforced concrete and wooden moulds, he fabricated tiled and decorative blocks of every description. Many of them he bored through to make them lighter and to save material in such a way, however, as to interfere in no way with their strength and solidity. Father Janzen sawed through the connection between the towers and the rest of the edifice from top to bottom so as not to damage the main structure. The sinking slowly continued, so much so, that Father Jazen abandoned the idea of adding spires.
The sinking stopped for more than a year and Father Janzen began the work of constructing the spires, 86 feet above the towers.
Accident
On August 11, 1907, Father Janzen slipped on a plank and fractured his thigh in three places. Father Janzen came out of the hospital permanently crippled. Thanks however, to the supervision of the Chinese maistry, Ah Yen, who for the preceding eight years had been his principal assistant, the construction continued.
The Most Rev. Dr. Kelly, Archbishop of Sydney, had this to say in the ''Catholic Press of Sydney'' of the cathedral and Father Janzen:
"The Cathedral at Rangoon, now almost complete in the exterior outline, is a work of genius, it has twin spires rising from its facade, and so setting their surmounting crosses as a to draw the visitor's attention. Father Janzen lives hidden away in his single room in the ground floor having but the plainest technical apparatus, restricted to very scant funds, and quite uncertain as to the future. For many months, he has been deprived of the consolation of celebrating Mass, on account of a fractured limb, which no longer serves for standing at the altar. Yet, the Cathedral works and keeps going; designs are forthcoming as required by each detail of workmanship; expedients for overcoming difficulties and for accommodating disarrangement are invented; and many curses, which have nonplussed professional skill in Burma, have been successfully dealt with by the wonderful spirit that dwells in the dying and broken body of this devoted priest."
Dedication
The cathedral was dedicated as Our Lady of Immaculate Conception on 22 February 1911. The names of the chief donors were written on it, and it was signed by Rev. Father P. St. Guily.
Five months after the dedication, on 1 August 1911, Father Janzen died and was interred at the entrance to the nave of the cathedral. A plain inlaid marble slab indicated the spot whereafter "life's fitful fever, he sleeps well".
A new Cathedral and sad disasters:
The earthquake of May 5, 1930 wrought havoc in the city. The cathedral behaved splendidly under the shock it received. Only two interior vaults came down and others showed a few cracks. Two arches next to the towers were badly cracked but in a few months repairs were completed.
The cathedral well withstood the
Japanese bombings of 1941–42 but the Allied bombing of 14 December 1944 blew all the stained glasses to smithereens. They were redone with the ordinary local made glasses.
On 2 May 2008, again the cathedral glasses were strongly hit and damaged by the
Cyclone Nargis
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis ( my, နာဂစ်, ur, نرگس ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone m ...
. This time, tarpaulin sheets were used to fix the broken glass, as it would've costed a lot for the glass to be replaced.
Information
Cathedral address: 372, Bo Aung Kyaw Street, Botahtaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (95)-1-245647
*Daily Masses : 6.00 am (English), 5.00 pm (English).
*Sunday Masses: 6.00 am (English), 8.00 am (English), 5.00 pm (Myanmar).
See also
*
Yangon City Heritage List The Yangon City Heritage List is a list of man-made landmarks in Yangon, Myanmar, so designated by the city government, Yangon City Development Committee. The list consists of 188 structures (as of 2001), and is largely made up of mostly religious s ...
References
External links
{{commons category-inline, Saint Mary Cathedral (Yangon)
Catholic Church in Myanmar
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Myanmar
Cathedrals in Myanmar
Christianity in Yangon
Buildings and structures in Yangon
Churches in Yangon
Churches completed in 1899
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings