St. George's Cathedral (Chennai)
The St. George's Cathedral ( St. George's Cathedral , Tamil : புனித ஜார்ஜ் கோவில் ) is a church in Chennai (Madras), the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . It is the cathedral of the diocese of Madras of the Anglican Church of South India . St. George's Cathedral is in the classical style and was completed in 1815 during the British colonial era . On September 27, 1947, the Church of South India was founded in St. George's Cathedral.
history
Madras, today's Chennai, developed into a center of British colonization of India after Fort St. George was founded by the British East India Company in 1640 . This created an Anglican congregation in the city in addition to an existing Catholic . After the St. Mary's Church in Fort St. George, completed in 1680, became too small for the growing number of Anglican Christians in the city at the beginning of the 19th century, it was decided to go to Mount Road (now Anna Salai), from Fort St. George to St. Thomas Mount arterial road to build a new church. This was completed in 1815 and was named St. George's Church after St. George , England's national saint and godfather of Fort St. George . The church was planned by John Lawrence Caldwell , chief engineer of the British East India Company, and built under the aegis of his assistant Captain Thomas De Havilland . Although masses were held in the church as early as 1815, it was not consecrated until January 8, 1816 by the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta . In 1835 Madras was raised to its own bishopric and St. George's Church to its cathedral, which is why it was henceforth called St. George's Cathedral .
The Anglican congregations in India originally belonged to the Church of England , but in 1930 they became part of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon . On September 27, 1947, the southern bishoprics of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon merged with a number of Congregational , Presbyterian , Reformed and Methodist churches to form the Church of South India . St. George's Cathedral was the place of foundation of the Church of South India.
architecture
St. George's Cathedral is one of two examples of Georgian classicism in Chennai , along with St. Andrew's Church, which was built just a few years later . Like St. Andrew's Church, St. George's Cathedral is modeled on the London Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields . The main difference between St. George's Cathedral and St. Andrew's Church is its rectangular floor plan.
Web links
Coordinates: 13 ° 3 ′ 7.7 ″ N , 80 ° 15 ′ 10.4 ″ E