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.
A month or two ago I was down in the city centre on a Sunday morning to take some photos and I noticed a guy with a funny thing on his back come walking up the road towards me. As I passed I realised that it was the Google Street View camera. Cool! There may be photos of me taking photos of the Street View Guy on the net soon.Fast forward to last week and Google launched 170 trails, all…
I think I'm going to take a little break from Campanile posts before people get tired of it. I have a few more but will keep it back for a week or two. Route 67 literally has 67 art pieces scattered along the way between the Donkin Reserve and Campanile. Next to the bus station at the bottom of the steps down from Market Square, you will find the Walk of Words. The pavement contains a whole host of words…
Yesterday I posted a picture of the view looking north from the Campanile observation floor. It means I have three more directions and what's the use of showing you only one? So here is the view to the west. The Settlers Freeway is at the bottom and slightly to the left of the centre of the picture is Market Square and the historic Public Library in the city centre. Above on the hill is the Donkin Reserve, lighthouse and pyramid with the Great…
One of the new features of the recently refurbished Campanile is a full-length viewing window on the harbour side of the tower. The window has caused some ruptions with historic purists but personally I think its a great addition. The window really gives the best view of the adjacent Port Elizabeth Harbour and all its activities.
It's very easy to do a self-guided walk around Route 67 but if you really want to get the just of it then you have to do it on a guided tour. There are a number of guides who do the walk and more information is available from the Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism info centre at the Donkin Lighthouse building. When I visited the Campanile the other day there was a guide and intern based at the entrance who were…
The Campanile is actually seen as the starting point of Route 67 going up the hill and ending at the Donkin Reserve. With the refurbishment and re-opening of the Campanile recently, it is now fully part of Route 67 and one of the novel bits that was added to the Campanile was marking step number 67 as you climb up the tower's 204 steps.Just for those unfamiliar with what Route 67 is, it consists of 67 public art pieces symbolising…
Have you been to visit the newly renovated Campanile yet? After extensive renovations which included the removal, renovation and return of the bells, total overhaul of the bell structure, installation of a lift (if only they can get it to work properly), the installation of a big full length viewing window on the harbourside, a viewing hatch to see the bells and a number of new smaller features, the Campanile - originally opened in 1923 - reopened to the public about…