CHIJMES Hall was the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel located at the CHIJMES complex in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. The former

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was designed by Father Charles Benedict Nain, it currently serves as a

function hall Function or functionality may refer to: Computing * Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards * Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system * Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-orien ...

venue for weddings and corporate events.

History

The First

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of the

Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching. History Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar with ...

was built and consecrated in Singapore on 1855 for the Town Convent. As the old dilapidating chapel had become hazardous, the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus had to celebrate

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at the Caldwell House. They soon started

fund-raising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

by various means for the new chapel to replace the former.

Architecture

In 1898, Father Charles Benedict Nain, an architect and priest of Church of Saints Peter and Paul, designed a new

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

chapel for the Convent. The architectural firm Swan and Maclaren would oversaw the construction of the chapel. The chapel's stained-glass windows imported from

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1904 were designed by Jules Dobbelaere. A five-storey

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

flanked by flying

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es marked the entrance to the chapel. The 648

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s on the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s of the chapel and its corridors each bear a unique impression of tropical

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and birds.

Consecration

The new Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel was completed in 1903 and consecrated on 11 June 1904. The Entrance Gate pillars were later added to the front of the Chapel on the same year.

Deconsecration

In 1983, the

Singapore Government The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the President but exercised on the advice of the Cabinet le ...

had acquired the land from the Convent. The last

was held at the chapel on 3 November 1983 before it was deconsecrated for non-religious use.

Restoration

The

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

put up the site for sale in March 1990 and gazetted the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel and Caldwell House as national monuments on 26 October 1990, in order to preserve the ambience of the remaining buildings and designated the entire complex as a conservation area, with high restoration standards and strict usage guidelines. The remaining buildings, the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel, Caldwell House, and the remaining former school blocks underwent extensive restoration works in 1991 and reopened as a complex known as CHIJMES in 1996. The former chapel has since been renamed to CHIJMES Hall. Its

is managed by the Watabe Singapore, and currently serves as a venue for wedding and corporate functions.

Gallery

File:WM_CHIJMES_entrance.jpg File:CHIJMES 8, Jan 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 7.JPG File:CHIJMES 7, Feb 06.JPG File:CHIJMES, Feb 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 4, Feb 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 2, Feb 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 3.JPG File:CHIJMES 10, Jan 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 11, Jan 06.JPG File:CHIJMES 13.JPG File:CHIJMES 15, Jan 06.JPG File:CHIJMES_16,_Jan_06.JPG File:CHIJMES 17.JPG File:CHIJMES_22.JPG File:CHIJMES 6.JPG File:Chijmes in Singapore.jpg File:Chijmes night z.JPG

In popular culture

The

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

scene in ''Crazy Rich Asians'' took place in this former chapel.

External links

CHIJMES website

References

{{Authority control Tourist attractions in Singapore Landmarks in Singapore National monuments of Singapore Religious buildings and structures completed in 1903 Downtown Core (Singapore) UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards winners 20th-century architecture in Singapore