Sacred Heart Cathedral of Guangzhou - Architecture

Architecture

The facade of the cathedral was modelled on the Basilica of St. Clotilde in Paris and its nave and choir were inspired by the Toul Cathedral. The cathedral features a nave of approximately 27 metres high, flanked by two lower aisles and 14 small side-chapels. With a floor area of 2,754 square metres, it is the largest Roman Catholic church in the Guangzhou archdiocese and the largest cathedral in the Gothic style in China and Southeast Asia. The cathedral is 35 metres wide, 78.69 metres long, and the twin towers rise 58.5 metres high. The west tower is a clock tower while the east tower serves as a bell tower, inside which there used to be five gigantic bronze bells shipped in from France in the 19th century, although nowadays only four remain as one was given to a local church in Guangxi province in the early 1980s.

The cathedral, like most of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, is built of solid masonry. It is one of the few churches in the world to be entirely built of granite, including all the walls, pillars and the twin towers. The granite stones were transported from Kowloon, Hong Kong by sailing ships. For this reason, it is nicknamed "Stone House" (石室) by local people. "Stone House" is pronounced "Shishi" in Mandarin and "Seksat" in Cantonese, hence the name "Shishi Cathedral" in Mandarin or "Seksat Cathedral" in Cantonese.