St Peter's Cathedral, Java, Indonesia

4The_Pale_Ridah 5:00 PM Apr 27, 2013

Spot the Art-Deco
St Peter’s Cathedral was designed by C.P.W. Shoemaker in 1922, the same architect who designed the city’s most famous Art-Deco building, the Villa Isola. Considering Shoemaker’s considerable talents, his Neo-Gothic design seems very standard, but upon closer inspection some subtle Art-Deco features are obvious making this a great find for us. With that being said, most Europeans would easily mistake it for another boring church. The charming little cathedral features the typical characteristics found in many churches of the same period in Asia with a hint of the straight lines & smooth surfaces common in Art-Deco designs. The long curve of the main arch window in the front is a great example, it is free of detail & simple in style. St Peter’s Cathedral also features stained glass art with deep colours above the alter but is not illuminated at night. The acoustics are typically excellent. We encountered the local choir rehearsing before Sunday night Mass which was a nice experience to sit & listen. Immediately outside is a shrine to Mother Mary, it makes a peaceful place to pray amongst the ambience of the candle light, each representing someone’s prayers for help. Surrounding the cathedral nowadays are towering buildings which take away much of the cathedral’s magic. The encroachment of taller skyscrapers in the cathedral’s immediate space diminishes its presence which for a city of architecture is a huge error of incompetence. St Peter’s Cathedral is a Jesuit Catholic Cathedral & not part of the Dutch East Indies regime who were Protestants. Protestants practise of a type of Christianity that supports the ruler of England & not the Pope. After Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars he allowed Catholics to enter Dutch territory without threat of death. When the Dutch regained its independence, the Catholic Jesuits had already established their presence in Java. Since the Dutch are not known for their fighting bravery unless it is against unarmed women & children, they avoided a costly war & instead stacked their gold high. The Dutch watched over the Portuguese with the help of the British Navy close by in Penang, both powers conspiring in secret to steal each others wealth. The Jesuits whose order originated in Portugal, a Catholic country, had colonies in East Timor, Ambon, Borneo & the Moluccas Islands, were now free to preach in peace but the tensions between the Dutch & Portugal were only just starting to heat up.

4norhassanah h 5:00 PM Feb 22, 2015

Structural
if your into architectural structures. you would love this. the structures around the area were great. I saw this structure both morning and night.