Sheshan Catholic Church

Sheshan Catholic Church

Sheshan Catholic Church is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a cultural relic protection unit of Shanghai.

Sheshan Catholic Church is located on West Sheshan Mountain in Songjiang. Also known as Xixia Mountain, in 1863, French Jesuit missionaries purchased a piece of land on the southern slope of Sheshan and built five simple houses, setting aside one as a private chapel. They also erected a hexagonal pavilion at the mountain’s peak to house a statue of the Virgin Mary.

In June 1870, a crowd burned down a church in Tianjin. When the news reached Shanghai, the missionaries were terrified. Jesuit Father Gu Zhensheng rushed from Xujiahui Catholic Church to Sheshan, knelt before the statue of the Virgin Mary in the hexagonal pavilion, and prayed: if they could be spared, he would build a grand church on the mountain. The Tianjin Incident did not spread to Shanghai, which the missionaries attributed to the Virgin Mary’s protection. This led to a “vow fulfillment” fundraising campaign for the church, with devout followers donating generously. By January 1871, the fundraising was completed, and the construction project was overseen by Jesuit lay brother and architect Ma Liyao. After two years of work, the church was completed and consecrated on April 15, 1873.

After the main church was completed, in 1894, the Jesuits built a middle church halfway up the mountain. In front of the church, they constructed the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, the Chapel of St. Joseph, and 14 Stations of the Cross along the ascent. May 24th, the Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, became the church’s patronal feast day. Devotees would make pilgrimages to Sheshan every May, with the numbers sometimes reaching several thousand, gradually turning Sheshan into a pilgrimage site for Catholics across hundreds of miles.

In the 1920s, the number of Catholics in the Shanghai area had reached 800,000. The original church was old and too small, so the Jesuits decided to demolish the old structure and build a new one. On April 24, 1925, the foundation stone for the new church was laid. At the time, no construction companies were willing to take on a project at nearly 100 meters above sea level. Eventually, the project was designed and supervised by Portuguese priest and architect Father Ye Zhaochang. Ye was extremely strict about construction standards—piles were driven all the way down to bedrock, and any construction that didn’t meet specifications had to be redone. The brickwork was precisely measured, and anything substandard was demolished and rebuilt. The entire project took ten years and was finally completed in November 1935.

The new church is 56 meters long from east to west, 25 meters wide from north to south, reaches a maximum width of 35 meters, and is 17 meters high, with a bell tower rising 38 meters. Because it was built atop a mountain, the engineering challenges were immense. The timber was shipped from Shanghai and the stone from Fujian, both transported by boat to the foot of Sheshan and then carried up the mountain by manpower. The building's structure is mainly stone, faced with red bricks, with a reinforced concrete arched roof. The floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, with the main entrance on the southwest side. The entrance hall leads directly into the nave. At the far end of the nave is the high altar, backed by a semi-circular apse. The altar is carved from marble inlaid with gold and jade, separated from the nave by low white marble railings. The nave floor is tiled with floral porcelain, and it accommodates 3,000 seats. The roof ridge is covered with emerald green glazed tiles, and the red brick façade is inlaid with stained glass windows, all with pointed arches. The eaves feature semicircular embellishments. A square bell tower stands at the southwestern corner of the church, topped with an olive-shaped dome supported by 16 columns. At the dome’s peak sits a 4.8-meter-high, 1,800-kilogram bronze statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child. The church combines multiple architectural styles: its arches and aisles are Romanesque, its columns are Greek, its spires are Gothic, its bell tower is Israelite, the small dome at the eastern end is Spanish, the exposed brick walls and diamond-patterned floor tiles are in traditional Chinese style, and the glazed tiles reflect Chinese imperial design. The entire building is known for its “four absences”—no nails, no wood, no steel, and no beams—making it a remarkable example of asymmetrical architecture.

Sheshan Catholic Church is magnificent and elegant, and one of the world’s most renowned churches. On September 12, 1942, Pope Pius XII “canonized” Sheshan Catholic Church as a “Basilica.” On May 18, 1947, the coronation ceremony of the statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child drew over 10,000 attendees. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the statue was destroyed as part of the campaign against the “Four Olds.” After the Cultural Revolution, religious activities resumed. In 1982, the church underwent major renovations, which were completed in 1984. The world-famous church regained its original splendor, and a rededication ceremony was held in 1985.

Having withstood over half a century of wind, rain, earthquakes, lightning, and other disasters, the church still stands proudly atop Sheshan Mountain just as it did when first built. In 1989, it was designated as a municipal cultural relic protection unit.

Address: Summit of West Sheshan Park, 9142 Waiqingsong Highway, Songjiang District, Shanghai

Type: Church

Recommended visiting time: About 1 hour

Phone: 021-57827211

Opening hours:

East Sheshan: 7:30–17:30; West Sheshan: 7:30–16:30

Ticket information:

East Sheshan: 45 RMB; West Sheshan: 30 RMB

Transportation

Take Metro Line 9 to Dongjing Station

Sheshan Town: Located in the southwestern part of Shanghai’s Songjiang District, adjacent to Songjiang University Town and about 35 kilometers from downtown Shanghai and 18 kilometers from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. Covering an area of 74.7 square kilometers, Sheshan Town administers 13 administrative villages and 2 neighborhood committees, with a population of 45,000. It is the largest town in Songjiang District by land area. Shanghai’s only national-level tourist resort—the Sheshan National Tourism Resort—is located here, making it one of the key development zones in Songjiang’s “one city, three areas” plan. Sheshan is one of the centers for regional economic development in Songjiang and serves as the northwestern gateway to the district. Rich in... Sheshan Town detailed information++