St Johns Cathedral description and photos - Antigua and Barbuda: St Johns (Topic)

St. Johns Cathedral description and photos - Antigua and Barbuda: St. John's. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is St Johns Cathedral.

Photo and description

Cathedral of St. John's (John the Divine), rises on a hill in the city of St. John. It is the center of the diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northeastern Caribbean.

The current temple, with its massive white twin towers, was built in 1845 from reef limestone. Now we can observe its third variant, since natural disasters in 1683 and 1745 destroyed the previous structures. The first church before the current one, St. John's Anglican Church (1681), was a simple wooden building without decorations and stood until the earthquake in 1745. The second, much larger in size, was built in 1746 from English ballast bricks and was decorated with a short spire on the west end. Almost a century later, in 1842 the diocese of Antigua was established and the main temple was chosen in St. John's. However, shortly thereafter, in February 1843, an earthquake severely damaged the church, but it was partially rebuilt. The construction of a new temple was planned, which began on October 9, 1845. Sir Charles August Fitzroy, Governor of Antigua, laid the first stone, and after three years, the cathedral was solemnly dedicated and the first divine service. The new temple accommodated 2,200 parishioners.

The current church is 48 m long and 14 m wide, the length of the transverse nave is 32 m. The building is made of stone, with stained glass windows and dark pine furniture. Some of the interior items and marble plaques on the walls were removed from the old church after the earthquake. The cathedral has two towers 21 m high in the style of baroque architecture with aluminum-colored domes. The design drew derision, the building was called a "pagan cathedral with pepperpots on the sides," and is now considered the best church in the province. Noteworthy is the gate on the southern wall with columns depicting the figures of John the Theologian and John the Baptist. They were taken to the temple in 1756 from a captured French ship.

The cathedral is located at the highest point of the city, offering panoramic views of the island from its grounds, and the adjacent picturesque old cemetery is used as a park for walking.

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Topic: St Johns Cathedral description and photos - Antigua and Barbuda: St Johns.