St. Paul Cathedral

Located in the heart of the City of Joy - Kolkata, St Paul's is an Anglican cathedral that operates under CNI – Church of North India. It is a must-visit for those who seek enriching historical and architectural pleasure on their vacation trips. In the heart of the city, this colossal structure reminds you of the colonial times and takes you down the memory lane. Travellers keep this among the top few must-visit places when they come to Kolkata. It looks most beautiful during the Christmas holidays, when the cathedral, the garden around it as well as the surrounding streets are all bathed in light and festivities. Primarily built to accommodate the ever-increasing Christian community in Calcutta, it is the first Episcopalian church in Asia. The building follows Indo-Gothic style and its structure is complete with a cascading white edifice, towering spire and colourful tinted windows. Inside, it has a huge nave, majestic altar and chancel, along with carvings and paintings depicting great moments and events of Christian history. The cathedral complex also houses several memorabilia of past congregants and a library where books as old as the church's foundation time still exist donated by founding member Bishop Wilson. St. Paul's Cathedral's cornerstone was first laid down in 183 and took modeled long years to complete its colossal structure. The original church was built to replace St. John's Church as the major temple of worship of the Christian community of Calcutta, which was crossing 4,000 in number and becoming impossible to fit in just one church. Even though discussions and proposals regarding St Paul's Cathedral were first observed way back in 1819, during the tenure of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, the then Governor General of Bengal, it was not until 1832 that the project was finally undertaken under Bishop Daniel Wilson. The construction of St Paul's Cathedral was orchestrated mainly by Bishop Wilson, designed by Major William Nairn Forbes and architected by C.K. Robinson. The looming tower, spire, and altar was greatly influenced by and partially modelled upon the Norwich Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. The construction took precisely eight years from laying cornerstone on October 8, 1839, to the consecration ceremony on October 8, 1847. To mark the consecration of the church, the Empress of British Empire Queen Victoria had sent ten pieces of silver-gilt plates as a gift of honor. After Calcutta suffered an earthquake in 1934, the church was revamped for the second time, the first one being after 1897's earthquake. In the natural disaster, the church's previous tower collapsed and thus it was rebuilt modeled on the central Bell Harry Tower of Canterbury Cathedral. After its completion, St Paul's was announced as the new cathedral of Calcutta.