Sheshan, formerly known as Zose, is a pair of
hills in
Songjiang District in western
Shanghai, China. The two hills are distinguished as East and , although the more important western hill is also called Sheshan on its own. East Sheshan has an elevation of and
West Sheshan has an elevation of , it is the highest point in
Shanghai, there is a small valley between them. The area around the two hills is a forest park.
Basilica
It is surmounted by the ''Our Lady of China'' Catholic church,
Sheshan Basilica
The Sheshan Basilica, officially the National Shrine and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan () and also known as Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians is a prominent Roman Catholic church in Shanghai. Its common name comes from its location on t ...
, which was built there between 1922 and 1936 following the establishment of a chapel in 1867, soon replaced by a first church in 1871-1873 by French
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries. Services in the church are held in Chinese and Latin. The road to the top of Sheshan hill represents the stations of the cross
Via Dolorosa (The Way of Suffering) that Christ took to his crucifixion. Every May pilgrims flock to the chapel and the holy road by the hundreds.
Observatory
The hill also houses an observatory founded in 1900 by Jesuits, the
Sheshan Observatory
The Sheshan Observatory () is an observatory on Sheshan Hill in Shanghai.
History
It was built by French Jesuits around 1899 and is one of the oldest astronomical observatory in China (it also hosts one of China's oldest astronomical telesco ...
. In addition to scientific equipment of the modern era, it displays a replica of a
Han dynasty earthquake
monitoring device, consisting of a jar with dragon heads mounted around the outside and a pendulum inside. Each dragon has a steel ball in its mouth. When an earthquake occurred, the pendulum would swing, knock a dragon causing its mouth to open and a ball to drop out thereby indicating the quake's direction. The observatory has been renovated and reopened as a museum in May 2023.
Transportation
Sheshan is in the vicinity of
Sheshan Station on
Line 9 of the
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 municipal districts and to Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Served as a part of Shangha ...
.
Further reading
Coomans Thomas 高曼士, ''Sheshan jiaotang xunzong: jianzhu, chaosheng, lishi tujing'' 佘山教堂寻踪: 朝圣建筑和历史途径
he Basilica of Sheshan: pilgrimage architecture and historical landscape (''Kaifang de Shanghai chengshi jianzhu shi congshu'' 开放的上海城市建筑史丛书, 3). Shanghai: Tongji University Press, 2023, 303 p., 289 Figs.
See also
*
Sheshan Golf Club
References
Landforms of Shanghai
Hills of China
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