Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament ( Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament ), including Christchurch Basilica in contrast to the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral, the Episcopal Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in Christchurch, New Zealand. The on February 12, 1905, consecrated by the Archbishop of Melbourne Thomas Carr church considered the main work of the New Zealand architect Francis Petre. Due to the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, the cathedral was so badly damaged that its recovery is uncertain.

History

Prehistory

New Zealand is characterized by its British colonial history predominantly Anglican. Around the middle of the 19th century, however, developed the majority ethnic Irish Catholic settlers a growing self-confidence, which the Holy See through the establishment of canonical dioceses took into account.

The first Roman Catholic church building in Christchurch was a wooden church, designed by Benjamin Mountfort. It was completed in 1864 and expanded in the 1870s. The founding of the Diocese of Christchurch in 1887 led to the planning of a representative cathedral, largely driven by the first Bishop of Christchurch John Joseph Grimes († 1915).

Construction

After a sufficient basis for the financing of the vessel collected and Petre was obtained as an architect, the old wooden church was treated with tractors by 120 meters and laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral on 10 February 1901.

At the time of its establishment fifty people were employed on the site of the cathedral, a total of 3,400 cubic meters of stones were, 110 cubic meters of concrete and 90 tonnes of steel needed. Once there were problems, to provide suitable rock in such large amounts, funding gaps arose during construction. As a result, adopted the New Zealand Parliament by the then Prime Minister Richard Seddon a separate law, which ensure the financing of the Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Diocese should engage in the overall cost of £ 52,000 under the arms.

The architecture of the building was evaluated largely positive, the renowned Irish author George Bernard Shaw on a visit to Christchurch in 1934 to tempted to describe Petre as " New Zealand Brunelleschi ".

In the following decades the Christchurch Basilica was richly furnished with works of art. In the 1970s, extensive refurbishment measures and the transformation according to the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council were performed. For the centenary of 2005, a new cycle of Calvary images originated.

Earthquake

The earthquake on September 4, 2010, the cathedral was damaged. It was closed to carry out the stabilization action. The earthquake on 22 February 2011, inter alia, the portal towers collapsed one - the southern to the ground floor -; structures fell into difficulties and the entire building got deep cracks. After the earthquake in June 2011 dome hood and floor of the choir tower were demolished for safety reasons.

As relief for earthquake victims, the diocese founded the Christchurch Diocesan Earthquake Recovery Fund. About the future of the cathedral is still under discussion. The parish church of St. Mary's serves as Prokathedrale.

Architecture

Of all built by Francis Petre's designs buildings, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is considered the most important, to be the most beautiful and most impressive neo-Renaissance building in Australasia.

After Petre had renounced the Gothic Revival style, which dominated large parts of the 19th century, he ushered in a new architectural era in New Zealand - particularly in Christchurch - a. He designed his new Kathedralbau in the Renaissance style, turning toward the classical basilica scheme with three-aisled nave, transepts, choir with apse to the east and representative tower / portal - front in the West - but with one big exception. Contrary to the force since the Romanesque convention, the dome on the crossing to put the intersection of Main and transept, Petre placed it above the choir. This unusual solution in conjunction with the Byzantine-inspired apse should, as its intention to increase the " glory" of the in- round choir closing high altar, thus indicating at the same time on the patronal feast of the church, as the tabernacle is here.

The Christchurch Basilica consists of concrete, which is reinforced of Oamaru stone, a hard limestone. The nave and chancel are supported by Ionic columns made ​​up of colonnades. The main entrance is flanked by European Kathedralmuster by two towers. Towers and dome wear copper hoods.

The Christchurch Cathedral is often compared to the Saint Paul 's Cathedral in London from the 18th and especially with the Paris Saint Vincent -de- Paul Church from the 19th century. But it was mainly a French priest and self-taught architect Benoît- Agathon Haffreingue, from the Petre was influenced the design of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. He had been during a formative part of his training period at Haffreingue in teaching. This, in turn, was the driving force in rebuilding the cathedral of Boulogne -sur -Mer, which should see the Cathedral of Christ Church similar. Among other things, the French Cathedral was built with the unconventional coupling position.