Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament ( Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament ), also Christchurch Basilica in contrast to the Anglican ChristChurch Cathedral , is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in Christchurch , New Zealand . The church, consecrated on February 12, 1905 by the Archbishop of Melbourne Thomas Carr , is considered the main work of the New Zealand architect Francis Petre . The cathedral was so badly damaged by the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 that Bishop Paul Martin announced its final demolition and a new building elsewhere in 2019.
history
prehistory
New Zealand is predominantly Anglican due to its British colonial history. Around the middle of the 19th century, however, the predominantly Irish-born Catholic settlers developed a growing self-confidence, which the Holy See took into account by establishing canonical dioceses .
The first Roman Catholic church building in Christchurch was a wooden church designed by Benjamin Mountfort . It was completed in 1864 and expanded in the 1870s. The founding of the Christchurch diocese in 1887 led to the planning of a representative cathedral, largely driven by the first bishop of Christchurch, John Joseph Grimes († 1915).
construction
After a sufficient foundation for the financing of the new building had been gathered and Petre had been won as an architect, the old wooden church was moved 120 meters with tractors and the foundation stone of the cathedral was laid on February 10, 1901.
At the time of its construction, fifty people were employed on the construction site of the cathedral, a total of 3,400 m³ of stones, 110 m³ of concrete and 90 t of steel were required. After problems arose in delivering suitable rock in such large quantities, funding gaps arose during construction. As a result, the New Zealand Parliament, under then Prime Minister Richard Seddon, passed a law of its own to ensure the financing of the cathedral and to help the Roman Catholic diocese at a total cost of £ 52,000 .
The architecture of the building was largely rated positively, which led the famous Irish author George Bernard Shaw on a visit to Christchurch in 1934 to refer to Petre as "New Zealand's Brunelleschi ".
In the decades that followed, the Christchurch Basilica was richly decorated with works of art. In the 1970s, extensive renovation measures and the redesign were carried out according to the specifications of the Second Vatican Council . For the centenary of 2005 a new cycle of pictures of the stations of the cross was created .
earthquake
The cathedral was damaged in the earthquake on September 4, 2010 . It was closed to carry out stabilization measures. During the earthquake on February 22nd, 2011 u. a. the portal towers - the southern one up to the ground floor -, load-bearing parts got in a tilted position and the entire building got deep cracks. After the earthquake in June 2011 , the dome and upper floor of the choir tower were removed for safety reasons.
The diocese established the Christchurch Diocesan Earthquake Recovery Fund to provide emergency relief for earthquake victims . The parish church of St. Mary’s serves as a procathedral . At the beginning of August 2019, Bishop Paul Martin announced the final demolition and a new building elsewhere.
architecture
Of all the buildings built according to Francis Petres designs, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is considered to be the most important, as well as being the most beautiful and impressive neo-renaissance building in Australasia .
After Petre broke away from the neo-Gothic style, which dominated much of the 19th century, he ushered in a new architectural age in New Zealand - especially in Christchurch. He designed his new cathedral building in the Renaissance style and based it on the classic basilica scheme with a three-aisled nave , transept, choir with apse in the east and a representative tower / portal front in the west - but with one major exception. Contrary to the Romanesque convention of placing the dome on the crossing , the intersection of the main nave and transept, Petre placed it above the choir. This unusual solution in connection with the Byzantine -looking apse was intended, according to his intention, to enlarge the “glory” of the high altar in the round choir closure and at the same time to indicate the patronage of the church, as the tabernacle is located here .
The Christchurch Basilica is made of concrete , which is reinforced by Oamaru rock , a hard limestone . The nave and the chancel are supported by colonnades made up of Ionic columns . The main portal is flanked by two towers in the style of a European cathedral. The towers and dome have copper domes.
Christchurch Cathedral is often compared to the 18th century St Paul's Cathedral in London, and particularly to the 19th century St. Vincent de Paul Church in Paris . But it was above all the French priest and self-taught architect Benoît-Agathon Haffreingue who influenced Petre when designing the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament . He had been an apprentice at Haffreingue during a formative part of his training. This, in turn, was the driving force behind the reconstruction of the Boulogne-sur-Mer cathedral, which was to resemble the Christchurch cathedral. Among other things, the French cathedral with the unconventional dome position was built.
Individual evidence
- ↑ image and report (English)
- ↑ Diocesan Information (English)
- ^ Charlie Gates: Bishop chooses demolition for Christchurch's historic Catholic cathedral . Stuff, August 4, 2019, accessed August 7, 2019.
Web links
- Information of the diocese (English)
- Baugeschichte (English)
- Architecture (English)
Coordinates: 43 ° 32 ′ 18 ″ S , 172 ° 38 ′ 47.4 ″ E