I got to see the inside of St Augustine's Cathedral for the first time a few weeks ago while on a tour of Route 67. The church isn't generally open like St Mary's on the other side of the Public Library, so if you want to see it you need to make special arrangements or alternatively just attend a service.
When the first Catholic priest, Father George Corcoran, set foot in Port Elizabeth in 1840 it wasn't just a case of getting off the boat and taking up his position. No, he was shipwrecked in Cape St Francis and had to travel the last 100km to town on horseback. Once he arrived here he found that there were only 42 Catholics in the town. But the show had to go on and in the ensuing years the Catholic community in…
Port Elizabeth has two cathedrals, both located in the city centre. St Mary's Anglican Cathedral, where the foundation stone was laid in 1825, and St. Augustine's Catholic Cathedral where the first stone was laid in 1861. Standing in front of St Mary's and looking up at the tower, I was wondering if it is referred to as a church tower or a cathedral tower.
St Mary's Cemetery at the bottom of the Baakens Valley dates back to as early as 1799 when it was a military cemetery. This changed with the arrival of the 1820 British Settlers and you can still find graves of some of the original Settlers in the grave yard. On the hill above the cemetery stands the ruins of the St Peter's Church. The church was built in 1877 and after the people of South End were forcibly removed in…
The historic Public Library along with the even more historic St Mary's Anglican Cathedral in the city centre has a very nice collection of interesting spires and little towers.
The figure on the arch entrance way outside St Mary's Anglican Cathedral next to the Public Library in the Port Elizabeth city centre
The old fence on the wall around the Holy Trinity Church in Central has always fascinated me and it makes for a nice foreground for photos of the church as well.
Driving around Richmond Hill last week I just couldn't help but to stop in front of St Phillips for a photo. When Sue and Max started Port Elizabeth Daily Photo St Phillips was featured quite often as they live nearby. Me on the other hand live across town and don't get to come here that often. Want to know more about the history of the church? Just click the link for a post from last year.
I won a night at The Plantation at the #ECMeetup recently and a few weeks ago the Damselfly and I made use of my prize (which I still need to post about). The afternoon after checking in we took a walk around the property and I snapped this pic of the chapel entrance - seeing that they're a wedding venue and all..