Sacred Heart Church., Guangzhou

The Sacred Heart Church was built on a site that was originally occupied by the office of the Guangdong/Guangxi Provinces governor during the Qing Dynasty until it was completely destroyed by the French army sometime around the end of the Second Opium War... After that, the area was "leased" to the French and construction of the church followed shortly thereafter...

Apart from the granite carapace and kaleidoscopic stained glass, Sacred Heart Church also contains other interesting features such as a huge clock and four large suspended bronze bells which were cast in France and shipped over to Guangzhou, just like the stained glass...

Sacred Heart Church is also known as the "House of Stone" by the Chinese because it is constructed entirely out of granite. The official Chinese name of the church is "Shi Shi Jiaotang." Construction on the church began in the year 1863 and it was finally finished in 1888 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu...

Sacred Heart Church is a French Roman Catholic institution and as it was originally built by the French architect Guillemin, all the stained glass that is used in the windows of the church was shipped over to Guangzhou all the way from France itself... Notice in this image, the broken section of the glass, through which the pure sunlight shines...

As you walk around the church, you will first notice it is almost impossible to enter. The main front entrance is enclosed behind a large wide expanse of iron bars that are locked up, except perhaps on Sundays, presumably... Rounding the exterior, you will notice that the stained glass windows have irregular broken pieces that have not been repaired or restored in any way... It is a marvelous decay, with metaphorical reverberations of meaning...