Our Lady of Victory Church ( zh, s=圣母得胜堂, ), also known as Wanghailou Church (), is a Roman Catholic church located in
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, which formerly served as the Cathedral church for the Tianjin diocese. It is one of the oldest churches in Tianjin.
History
In 1773, salt merchants in Tianjin financed a construction of a 3-storey structure on this site, which was used as a temporary residence by the Emperor. The
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
bestowed upon it the name 'Haihe building' (海河楼).
In 1862, French missionary priest , through negotiations between the French consulate in Tianjin and Qing minister
Chonghou, obtained a portion of land in Tianjin that included this site.
In 1869, the old construction was demolished and a church was built in its place dedicated to
Our Lady of Victory
Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General ...
. In 1870, the
Tianjin massacre occurred and the church was destroyed along with other Catholic sites in Tianjin.
In 1897, the church was rebuilt using reparations funds from the Qing government. In 1900, the church was destroyed a second time when the
Boxers arrived in Tianjin and attacked foreigners as well as Chinese Catholics. In 1903, the church was rebuilt again using reparations funds from the Qing government.
In 1912 the
Diocese of Tianjin was officially established by Rome and Our Lady of Victory was made the cathedral for the diocese. In 1916,
St Joseph's Cathedral replaced Our Lady of Victory as the cathedral.
In 1949, it was closed following the Communist revolution. It was partially re-opened later.
During the Cultural Revolution, it was vandalized by Red Guards.
It was heavily damaged during the 1976
Tangshan earthquake
The 1976 Tangshan earthquake () was a 7.6 earthquake that hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, China, at 3:42 a.m. on 28 July 1976. The maximum intensity of the earthquake was XI (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli scale. In minutes, 85 percen ...
. The Tianjin municipal government rebuilt the church in 1983.
[ http://german.china.org.cn/life/archive/olympic08/2007-06/18/content_8474317_3.htm, Notre Dame des Victoires, 中国网, retrieved June 17th 2023]
望海楼教堂.jpg, the church today
Bundesarchiv Bild 116-127-011, Tientsin, Brücke über Fluss.jpg, the church in 1898
Catholic Cathedral and Military Fort ca 1900.jpg, a postcard for the church in 1900
References
{{coord missing, China
Catholic churches in China