St Joseph Cathedral

St Joseph's Cathedral (天津西开教堂) was begun in 1913 on Church Front Street, today's 11 Xining Road in Heping District, and completed in June 1916, when the seat of the Tianjin diocese moved here from Wanghailou. Every brick used in the building was shipped from France. It is the largest Romanesque building in North China, with 1,891.95 square metres of floor area and room for 1,500 people, and its three giant domes of about 45 metres are staggered in a pin pattern, sheathed in green copper plate on a timber frame. It was listed as a Tianjin cultural relic in August 1991 and named a national-level outstanding modern engineering work.