Nanjing Shigu Road Catholic Church

Nanjing Shigu Road Catholic Church

Nanjing Shigu Road Catholic Church is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

Nanjing Shigu Road Catholic Church

Nanjing Shigu Road Catholic Church was founded by the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci, one of the earliest missionaries to China. In the late 16th century, Ricci visited Nanjing three times and purchased a private residence in Luosiwan, west of the city, in 1599. After minor renovations, he used it as a place for personal religious activities. In 1618, the church was demolished due to the Nanjing Missionary Case.

Shigu Road Catholic Church is located at No. 112 Shigu Road, Baixia District, Nanjing. It was completed in the ninth year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1870); the church suffered severe damage during the Northern Expedition. In 1928, the Nationalist Government allocated funds for its restoration. From the 1930s onward, it has served as the cathedral of the Nanjing Diocese of the Catholic Church. After 1978, the Patriotic Catholic Associations of Jiangsu Province and Nanjing Municipality shared offices here. It is a provincial-level cultural heritage site in Jiangsu and is listed among China’s famous churches.

In 1864, French missionary Fr. Le Gueury came to Nanjing with a French gunboat to reopen the church. He built the church on the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple, and it was completed in 1870 (the ninth year of the Tongzhi reign), named “The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” which is the present-day Shigu Road Catholic Church. The church suffered severe damage during the Northern Expedition and was restored in 1928 with funding from the Nationalist Government.

The exterior and interior structure of Shigu Road Catholic Church imitate Romanesque style—no beams, cruciform, vaulted ceiling, brick-and-wood structure, iron-sheet roofing, and a bell tower. It primarily adopts the traditional techniques of arch structures and light-color schemes found in Western ancient churches. Due to technological and material limitations, the roof structure still uses traditional Chinese wooden trusses, with curved wooden components and lath-and-plaster imitation Roman arches as the ceiling. Though imitation, the effect is remarkably authentic.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Jiangsu Province