Christ the King Cathedral | |
Other Name: | Cathédrale du Christ-Roi |
Native Name: | Nhà thờ chính tòa Kitô Vua |
Pushpin Map: | Vietnam#Southeast Asia#Asia |
Location: | Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa province |
Country: | Vietnam |
Denomination: | Roman Catholic Church |
Architect: | Louis Vallet (1869-1945) |
Architectural Type: | Gothic Style |
Height: | 38m (from road surface) |
The Christ the King Cathedral[1] (Vietnamese: Nhà thờ chính tòa Kitô Vua; French: Cathédrale du Christ-Roi), also called Nha Trang Cathedral (Vietnamese: Nhà thờ Núi Nha Trang; French: Cathédrale de Nha Trang), is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Nha Trang in central Vietnam.[2]
The parish was founded in 1886 by French missionaries. The present church was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1928 as a parish church, depending on the Apostolic Vicariate of Quinhon. It was consecrated at Easter 1930 under the title of "Christ the King". Then it was attended by a famous French priest in the Foreign Missions of Paris, Louis Vallet (1869-1945), who is buried there and devoted his life to his parishioners.
When the apostolic vicariate was erected in 1957 and the diocese created in 1960, with Monsignor Paquet from the Foreign Missions as the first bishop, the church was chosen as the cathedral.
The cathedral, very well located in the upper part of this coastal city, has a remarkable amount of stained glass windows depicting saints, including several French saints, such as St. Joan of Arc[3] and St. John Vianney, and episodes from the life of Jesus.