Holy Rosary Cathedral, Kaohsiung Audio Guide

Holy Rosary Cathedral: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Holy Rosary Cathedral

   Welcome to Holy Rosary Cathedral, a Catholic church in Lingya District in Kaohsiung. You will find it on Wufu Third Road, close to the Love River and the Kaohsiung Bridge. Locals call it the Rose Church, and its local name is 玫瑰聖母聖殿主教座堂, also known as Qianjin Catholic Church. Plenty of people hurry past on the busy road without noticing it, which is a shame, because this is a building with a long story. It is described as the first church built when the Catholic Church returned to Taiwan, and it is regarded as the birthplace of the modern Catholic Church on the island. Its beginnings go back to 1859. Today it is the seat of a bishop, a title it has held since the middle of the twentieth century, and it is a listed historic building. Over the next few minutes we will look at how this church began, at a stone tablet that disappeared underground and came back, at the architecture, and at how it grew from a humble mission into a cathedral and basilica. Take a moment to look up at the spire first.

2. 02

   Holy Rosary Cathedral: A Mission Begins in 1859

   The story starts in 1859, in the Xianfeng era of the Qing dynasty. Two Spanish Dominican missionaries, Father Fernando Sainz, known in Chinese as Guo Degang, and Father Angel Bofurull, known as Hong Baolu, arrived from Takao, the old name for Kaohsiung harbor. They came at a difficult time. Local attitudes toward outsiders were hostile, and their work met obstacles again and again. The following year they built a very modest base on the spot where the church stands today, a simple earthen-brick house. By 1863 the building had grown into something far more solid, made from red brick, coral stone and a lime-based mortar. A statue of Our Lady of the Rosary was brought all the way from Spain for the new church, and the church took the name Our Lady of the Rosary. That statue still stands at the center of the altar today. It has watched over the congregation for well over a century and a half. It is a rare thing for a modern city to keep an original piece of its first chapter in place, right where it was set down.

3. 03

   Holy Rosary Cathedral and the Stone That Vanished

   Above the main door hangs a stone tablet engraved with two characters meaning By Imperial Order. Its story begins in 1874. The imperial commissioner Shen Baozhen was in Taiwan handling coastal defense and foreign trade. The priest of the Wanjin church in Pingtung asked him to petition the Qing court for freedom to preach. The request was granted, and Shen Baozhen carved two stones in his own hand, one reading By Imperial Order and one reading Catholic Church. One went to Wanjin, and the other came to this church. Local tradition adds a flourish: from then on, officials passing by had to dismount and pay their respects. Accounts differ on which emperor issued the decree, so the safest telling is that it came from the Qing court. The tablet's later fate is a small detective story. When the old church was demolished for the great rebuilding of 1928, the stone was buried in the ground. It lay hidden until 1972, when parishioners were digging foundations for a Marian pavilion outside the church and unearthed it by chance. Now it hangs once more above the entrance, flanked by the coats of arms of a pope and a cardinal.

4. 04

   Holy Rosary Cathedral: Spires, Rose Windows and Vaults

   The church you see today dates from the rebuilding that began in 1928, when Father Lee Anse led the project. Work finished in 1931. The style is a simplified Gothic with Romanesque touches. From the Gothic tradition come the tall spire, the small pinnacles, the buttresses and the stained glass. From the Romanesque come the central tower, the band of tiny arches along the eaves, the paired arched windows and the rose window. The result is thick, heavy walls with lines that sweep upward. Smaller guard towers flank the main spire. Inside, the plan follows the basilica form, a long rectangle. Seven pairs of columns divide the nave from the side aisles, with a mezzanine level above. Ribbed vaults cross the ceiling, and their layered arched lines make a pattern almost like geometry. The sanctuary is shaped as an octagon. In the 1995 renovation, steel replaced the original wooden structure. Look closely at the shrine and altar as well. They carry Chinese-style carving, a blend that helps make this one of the most richly decorated Catholic churches in Taiwan. A tabernacle donated in 1974 from a church in Yanchao, weighing over a hundred kilograms, gleams in gold.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Holy Rosary Cathedral kept growing in importance. After the Second World War it was named the seat of the Kaohsiung church leadership. In March 1961 the area became a full diocese, with its first bishop, and this church remained its cathedral. In 1995 Rome raised it to the rank of basilica, the highest class of church. A major renovation followed, and a ceremony of dedication and elevation was held on the eighth of November 1998. In 2001 it won first place in a national contest for Taiwan's historic building views. If you step inside, remember it is a working place of worship. Photography is not allowed in the sanctuary, and quiet voices are appreciated. A television drama once filmed here, but the crowds faded, and the calm returned. Before you go, step back on the pavement and let your eyes travel from the spire down to the tablet above the door. Then look at the traffic of Wufu Third Road and the water of the Love River nearby. How many layers of Kaohsiung can you read in a single glance?