The Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour is located in Cinnamon Gardens (Colombo 07) a suburb of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is the primary

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 t ...

cathedral, affiliated to the

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon ( si, ලංකා සභාව) is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment ...

. The decision to build the Anglican

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 denominations ...

in Colombo, to replace the old cathedral in

Mutwal Modara ( si, මෝදර, translit=Mōdara; ta, முகத்துவாரம், translit=Mukattuvāram), also known as Mutwal ''(anglicised version)'', is a municipal ward of Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ� ...

, was initiated by Bishop Harold de Soysa, the first Ceylonese

Anglican Bishop of Colombo The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845, as the diocese of the ...

. It was designed by P. H. Wilson Peiris (architect of the

Cathedral of Christ the King, Kurunegala Cathedral of Christ the King is located on Kandy Road, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. It is the primary Anglican cathedral of the Diocese of Kurunegala, affiliated to the Church of Ceylon. The construction of the church (estimated at a cost of Rs 500,000 ...

) and the architect of the structure was Tom Neville Wynne-Jones CBE (architect of the

Independence Memorial Hall Independence Memorial Hall (also known as ''Independence Commemoration Hall'') is a national monument in Sri Lanka built for commemoration of the independence of Sri Lanka from the British rule with the restoration of full governing responsibil ...

). The construction was undertaken by the firm of U. N. Gunasekera. The foundation stone for the cathedral was laid on 28 October 1968 by Bishop Harold de Soysa. The construction was subsequently overseen by his successor, Bishop

Cyril Abeynaike Cyril Leander Abeynaike (22 February 1911 – 8 May 1991) was a former Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Educated at Royal College, Colombo and went on to study history at the University College, Colombo and theology at the King's College, ...

, whose ideas were incorporated into some of the church's features. The cathedral was consecrated on 7 November 1973 and has subsequently been used for all the Church of Ceylon's major religious ceremonies, including the

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

of all the bishops of Ceylon. The cathedral is based on the traditional style of Sri Lanka architecture, in this case the hexagonal form of a Buddhist temple, using modern concrete technology. It is the seat of the Bishop of Colombo.

References

{{Churches in Sri Lanka Churches in Colombo Cathedrals in Sri Lanka Church of Ceylon church buildings in the Diocese of Colombo

See also

Further reading

References