Navrongo Cathedral

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Facade of the cathedral

The Cathedral of Navrongo or the Cathedral Basilica Mary of the Seven Sorrows is a Roman Catholic church in Navrongo , a town in northern Ghana . The cathedral of the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga was consecrated to commemorate the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and has the title of a minor basilica .

history

In 1906, three Franco-Canadian White Fathers missionaries founded a mission on the site of the British military base established in 1904 . In 1907 they built a simple chapel after accommodation, which was replaced in 1910 by a larger, still provisional one. A school was also built.

In 1920 the present church was built as a permanent building, the first large building in the region. In 1934 the church was promoted to the Cathedral of the Apostolic Vicariate . In 1956 the church became the seat of the newly created diocese of Navrongo. Between 1992 and 1995, the roof and church tower had to be replaced because the building materials used fell apart. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI awarded the cathedral also has the title of a minor basilica .

The cathedral has been on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage in Ghana since 2000 .

Building

The 60 meter long and 14 meter wide structure is a mixture of European construction forms and African materials and designs. The rectangular building has a 13 meter high church tower from 1927 on the front and a large nave inside . The walls were hardened from a mixture of clay , cow dung and a fruit extract and were given a waterproof plaster, which gave the building the nickname Mud Cathedral . Instead of initially flat roof 1925 was a gable roof mounted as wooden construction with sheet metal cladding, inside it was supported by rows of columns. The interior design was initiated by Kizito Avereyire, who arrived in the early 1970s, and local artists were implemented. The walls were decorated with pictures of animals and everyday scenes in the local style of the Kassena-Nankana District . The entrance area is decorated with New Testament scenes from the Christmas story and the Last Supper .

literature

Web links

Commons : Navrongo Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History of the Diocese (Engl.)
  2. ↑ Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows at gcatholic.org
  3. ↑ Tentative list World Heritage Ghana - Cathedral of Navrongo ( English ), accessed on June 29, 2018

Coordinates: 10 ° 53 '3.4 "  N , 1 ° 4' 40.3"  W.