Cardboard Cathedral, South Island, New Zealand

4.5 (2.264 reviews) Spent < 1 hour Ranking #20 in Canterbury Region Points of Interest & Landmarks • Churches & Cathedrals

Innovative design

We would recommend a visit to this “temporary” cathedral but make sure that you have a tour with one of the volunteer guides. Without that you don’t realise what an innovative building it is and how quickly it was erected. It is also very moving to hear some the earthquake stories, especially the link with the town in Japan where quite a few of the students who died came from.

Address

234 Hereford St, Christchurch 8011 New Zealand

Mobile

+64 3-366 0046

Website

http://www.cardboardcathedral.org.nz

Current local date and time now

Monday, May 06, 2024, 8:01

User Ratings

4.5 based on (2.264 reviews)

Excellent
50%
Good
35%
Satisfactory
12%
Poor
2%
Terrible
1%

Reviews

  • 5Lynne S 5:00 PM Feb 13, 2020
    An absolute must see
    If you go to Christchurch you MUST make time to visit the Transition Cathedral, known as the cardboard cathedral. It is fascinating how such a lovely place has been made from Shipping containers, cardboard and poly carbs. It is an active community centre and a place of worship while the cathedral is being restored. You can see it from outside but it is worth doing the 5 dollar guided tour inside which explains it all and let’s you see how cleverly it has been made,plus see newspapers from when the earthquake occurred. A great and informative visit.
  • 4Sheila H 5:00 PM Feb 12, 2020
    Incredible Cardboard Cathedral
    We visited this amazing cathedral today. The structure with its cardboard tubes is truly awe-inspiring and testament to the resilience of the people of Christchurch following the devastating earthquake of 2011. We also visited the nearby 185 white chairs - one for each of those who lost their life. The sight of the white baby carseat reduced me to tears. Our experience was a little diminished by the attitude of the "welcomers". One asked of a colleague "What are we saying now?" to our request to wander round. We had the feeling we were interrupting a service. We were told it was five dollars for a tour and you could take as many photos as you wanted, or you could just wander round and again take photos but it was still five dollars. Whilst we fully understand the financial pressures, we would have responded appropriately simply from the request for five dollars per person on the donation box, without the heavy handed approach. The welcomers were also positioned to obscure the explanatory leaflets which we only saw on leaving. A sad impression, when we have been so warmly welcomed elsewhere.

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