Sanliqiao Church, Wuxi, Catholic church in Beitang District, Wuxi, China
Sanliqiao Church, also called Saint Joseph's Church, is a Roman Catholic church on Minzhu Street in Beitang District, Wuxi. Its 1872 cross-shaped hall covers 718 square metres, and a 62-metre bell tower erected in 2006 stands beside the old canal. The church is the largest Catholic church in Jiangsu.
The church was first built in 1640 by an Italian Jesuit priest outside Wuxi's north gate, near the old canal. It was abandoned under the Yongzheng Emperor's ban, restored by French missionaries in 1853 and 1864, and rebuilt in 1872. After a fire in 1891, missionary Albert Tschepe rebuilt it in 1892 with Qing indemnity funds. Closed and used as a warehouse from 1966, it reopened on 25 December 1980 and was listed as a municipal relic in 1994 and a provincial relic in 2006.
The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus, from whom the name "Yuese Tang" derives. Wuxi's Catholics long consisted mainly of fishermen, the "boat people" of the waterways, a following that took shape when the faith survived underground after the Yongzheng Emperor banned it in the 18th century. Today the parish remains the seat of the Wuxi deanery, which holds about half of the Nanjing diocese's 50,000 believers.
The church stands near the old Grand Canal, about three li north of the old city gate, in Beitang District. The 62-metre bell tower, in use since 2006, is visible from the canal side. It is an active parish, so visits are best timed outside Mass; dress modestly and keep quiet.
The church keeps the name Sanliqiao from its site three li outside the old county town's north gate, near the Grand Canal. Its congregation long came mainly from fishing families who lived on boats, and Wuxi still holds about half of the Nanjing diocese's 50,000 Catholics. The present 62-metre bell tower, in use since 20 March 2006, replaced one removed in 1966.
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