St. Michael's Church, Beijing, Gothic Revival church in Beijing Legation Quarter, China.
St. Michael's Church is a two-storey Gothic Revival church at Jia 13 Dongjiaomin Xiang, built of brick with a south-facing facade. Its interior has a wooden structure with ribbed vaults on round columns and a tiled floor. The main door is topped by a statue of St. Michael, and the east and west walls hold stained-glass windows made in France.
St. Michael's Church was the last Catholic church built in Beijing, completed in 1904 on land transferred from the French Legation after the 1901 Boxer Protocol. French bishop Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier negotiated the transfer, the Lazarists funded it, and priests Gao Jiali and Zhan Liguo oversaw construction. Closed during the Cultural Revolution and used as a school auditorium, it reopened on 23 December 1989 and was listed as a Beijing municipal protected site in October 1995.
The name honours Saint Michael the Archangel, whose statue stands above the main door; the archangel and the stained-glass windows are the two features visitors single out. The ten brick houses east of the church follow Beijing courtyard-house plans but have arched doorways and windows, a Chinese-Western combination. French-made windows were ordered for the east and west walls, though many were broken while the primary school used the nave as an auditorium.
The complex sits at a central intersection in the Legation Quarter, making it accessible on foot from nearby streets. Visitors should explore the interior during daylight hours and look for posted opening times at the entrance.
The church was built later than Beijing's four historic Catholic churches (South, North, East and West), and unlike them it was never completely destroyed and rebuilt, so its 1904 fabric survives. Its stained-glass windows were made to order in France; most were smashed while the building served as a primary school auditorium.
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