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The Cathedral of The Blessed Sacrament
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, situated in Barbadoes Street, is regarded as one of the finest examples of church architecture in Australasia. Its architect, F W Petre, specialised in the design of churches in various styles and was one of the first New Zealand born architects to achieve recognition in architecture and engineering.
The Cathedral is often referred to as "The Basilica"; its style based on that of the old Roman basilicas. The foundation stone was laid on 10 February 1901, and the contractors, J and W Jamieson completed the building in four years. Its construction required more than 3396 cubic metres of stone, 113 cubic metres of concrete and 88 tonnes of steel. Its imposing size, 64 m long and 32 m wide with its 41 m dome and towers, creates an impression of solidity. The Cathedral was blessed and opened on 12 February 1905 at a cost of 52,000.
The interior of the building presents a harmony of spacious arcades, colonnades with their varied capitals and an interplay of gracious arches. The ambulatory and gallery around the perimeter of the Cathedral are unusual, and the beauty of the interior is further enhanced by mosaic tiling in the sanctuary and ceilings of embossed zinc.
To conserve the fabric of the building, an extensive programme of cleaning and repair was undertaken in 1970. As part of the conservation project, the interior was reordered and refurbished to meet the needs of contemporary liturgical practice under the direction of Sir Miles Warren, of Warren and Mahoney, architects of the Christchurch Town Hall.
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Sources
This was originally derived from the Christchurch City Council handbook of 1998.
