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CLASSICAL CHURCHES OF KARACHI
Page 2
ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (1881)
Old Pictures
Present
Interior Pictures
(last 6 photographs contributed by Andrew Tng)The St. Patrick's cathedral was built on the site of an earlier catholic chapel that was built in 1845 as the first Roman Catholic church in Sindh. The small chapel had been built at a cost of Rs. 5,930 to which Napier and his staff had contributed Rs. 180 whereas the rest had been collected from the town's catholic community.
With the extension of the railroad to Karachi however, the catholic community of Karachi considerably grew in size with a large educated Goanese catholic community taking up residence in the city. This necessitated the construction of a larger house of worship.
The St. Patrick's cathedral in Karachi was conceived by three members of the Society of Jesus: the pastors Father Wagner, Brother Kluver, and Brother Lau. This large Indo-gothic cathedral was built out of Gizri sandstone and upon completion, became the largest church in Karachi with space for 1,500 worshippers. Built dimensions of this cathedral cover an area of 170 ft by 70 ft in plan. After the construction of the cathedral, the earlier church on the location was acquired by the St. Joseph's Convent school and rebuilt into its academic buildings.
Architecturally, the cathedral is impressive in scale and has a considerable presence at the axis of Clerk Street. The design seems to be inspired by medieval gothic cathedrals of England, with tall pointed windows and twin front spires that reinforce the feeling of loftiness in this building. The elegant facade is utilitarian and simple with little ornamentation, whereas the interior is lavish with impressive vaulting, stained glass windows, marble paving and life sized statues.
(referenced from Lari, 1996)In 1931, a grand marble monument was erected in front of the cathedral commemorating the memory of the Jesuit Mission in Sindh (1858-1935) and dedicated to Christ, the King. It is inscribed with the words: "Thou art Peter, and upon that rock, I will build my church".
ST. JOSEPH'S CONVENT CHAPEL (1901)
The St. Joseph's convent chapel was built in 1901 alongside the convent school. The architecture of this building seems to incorporate elements of Italianate and Gothic architecture and mixes well with the convent school's architecture. Six months after its construction, the roof of this chapel was torn off in a violent cyclone that hit Karachi, to be reconstructed at a later date.
Detailed information on this building is currently lacking. If you have any more information about this building, and any good pictures of the chapel's interior and the St. Joseph's Convent School, please contribute them to this website for inclusion. Please check here for contribution info.
