Our Lady Cathedral, Shanghai, Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
Our Lady Cathedral is a brick Eastern Orthodox church in the Xuhui District of Shanghai, built with two prominent bell towers that define its roofline. It sits on Xinle Road, in a neighborhood that still has many older European-style buildings from the early 20th century.
The cathedral was built in the 1930s for the Russian Orthodox community that had settled in Shanghai after fleeing the Russian Revolution of 1917. At that time, Shanghai was home to a large number of Russian emigrants who established their own churches, schools, and social clubs across the city.
The cathedral is one of the few Orthodox churches in Shanghai still used for religious services today. Inside, visitors can see icons, candles, and the layout typical of Orthodox worship, with the altar separated from the nave by a decorated screen.
The church is a short walk from Changshu Road metro station, served by lines 1 and 7, making it easy to reach from the city center. The surrounding streets on Xinle Road are pleasant to walk through, and several other historic buildings are close by.
During the Cultural Revolution, the cathedral was closed and repurposed, only reopening for worship decades later. It remains one of a very small number of Orthodox churches on the Chinese mainland that still functions as a place of worship.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
