All Saints' Cathedral, also known as Patthar Girja (Church of Stones), is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

located in

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Modelled after 13th-century

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

churches, it is among the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

buildings built by the British during their rule in India. British architect Sir William Emerson, who also designed the

Victoria Memorial The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901. The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, designed the cathedral in 1871. It was consecrated in 1887 and was completed four years later. The church celebrates its anniversary on

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...

(1 November) and has been part of the

Church of North India The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the Protestant churches working in northern India. It is a province of the worldwide Anglica ...

since 1970. The cathedral is at the centre of a large open space at the crossing of two of the principal roads of Allahabad,

MG Marg Mahatama Gandhi Marg, also known as MG Marg, is one of the major streets in Allahabad, named after Mahatma Gandhi. It stretches from Allahabad High Court in the east making intersection with PD Tondon Marg and Nyaya Marg, passing through Civil ...

and SN Marg.

History

All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad in the night

The land for the cathedral was granted by Sir

William Muir Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Provinces of British India. Life He was born at Gl ...

, the lieutenant governor of the

North Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom ...

; thereafter Elizabeth Huntly Wemyss, his wife, laid the foundation stone on 10 April 1871. British architect Sir William Emerson was employed to design the building, he had already designed the

Crawford Market Crawford Market (officially Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai) is one of South Mumbai's most famous markets. The building was completed in 1869, and donated to the city by Cowasji Jehangir. Originally named after Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal ...

, Bombay, and followed this with the

Muir Central College Muir Central College in Allahabad in northern India was a college of higher education founded by William Muir in 1872. It had a separate existence to 1921, when as a result of the Allahabad University Act it was merged into Allahabad University. ...

, Allahabad (1872–78), which is now part of the

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

According to ''The Building News'', 25 November 1887, the cathedral was commenced some 15 years previously, and was at first intended for the cathedral of the

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom ...

and to have an open verandah and

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

all round. It was, however, afterwards decided that the cathedral of the North-Western Provinces should be at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

instead, though it is now thought probable that this will eventually form the cathedral church of a new diocese. Following the extension of the railway network, Allahabad has grown to the extent that it has been found necessary to provide for the addition to the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

accommodating a much larger congregation that was originally expected The general simplicity of detail was necessitated by the class of workmen obtainable in this part of India at the time of construction. The work was carried out in a cream-coloured stone with fine red sandstone dressings, and the roof is covered with red local tiles.

Architecture

The cathedral's nave is about 40 feet wide and 130 feet long, the total length of the church is about 240 feet, and the internal width is about 56 feet. It is designed to accommodate 300 to 400 persons. It is a remarkable example of the architecture of colonial India. The glass and marble work of the cathedral is perfectly preserved even after more than 125 years. The cathedral also houses many plaques which depict the death of different British nationals for a variety of reasons during their rule in India. The church is surrounded by a lush green garden. The pulpit is an exceedingly fine piece of workmanship in

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

by Mr Nicholls of

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, from Mr Emerson's designs. Narrow aisles were made in the building thus giving a total internal width of about 56 feet. There are two transepts to the north and south respectively, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

with an

, a central tower at the intersection of the nave and transepts and a west

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

. The

lantern tower In architecture, the lantern tower is a tall construction above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church, with openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing (so it also called a crossing lante ...

, Victoria Tower, is a memorial to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

References

* {{Christianity in Allahabad Churches completed in 1887 Cathedrals in Uttar Pradesh Tourist attractions in Allahabad 1887 establishments in India Gothic Revival church buildings in India Church of North India cathedrals Churches in Allahabad 19th-century churches in India

History

Architecture

See also

References