Old Town Catholic Church

Old Town Catholic Church

The Old Town Catholic Church is a cultural tourism attraction.

Old Town Catholic Church

The Catholic church at the east gate of Old Town Ancient Town has a total construction area of 3,870 square meters. The main façade of the church is also known as the Scripture Welcome Hall. It was built in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1903) in the French architectural style. To the west of the church stands an eight-room, two-story brick-and-tile building.

Catholicism was introduced to the area in the 15th year of the Guangxu reign (1889) during the Qing Dynasty by Father Mou, a French missionary, who came to Old Town to spread the faith. Over a dozen priests have preached here, and more than 130 followers were converted. After 1949, church activities declined, were banned in the late 1950s, and only resumed in the late 1970s.

On October 2, 1934, the vanguard unit of the Red Army’s Long March, the Sixth Red Army Corps, captured Old Town Ancient Town. The corps headquarters was set up in the Catholic Church. Inside the church, Corps Commander General Xiao Ke obtained a one-square-meter French-language map of Guizhou, which he had translated by British missionary George E. M. Parker. This map played a crucial role in the Red Army’s battles across Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Yunnan. After leaving the Red Army in Yunnan, Parker wrote the book The Heavenly Road, which was among the earliest accounts to introduce the Long March to the world.

This church shares a deep historical connection with the 25,000-li Long March of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and stands as a witness to the Red Army’s passage through Huangping’s Old Town. In 2003, the Huangping County Party Committee and County Government raised nearly 300,000 yuan to renovate all the buildings, which were opened to tourists after completion.