Nagasaki
Atlas / Nagasaki
Rebuilt from the ashes of 1945, the cathedral of a community that survived persecution, exile and the atomic bomb.
The Catholics of Urakami had kept their faith in secret for generations. After they declared themselves in 1865 they were arrested and exiled across Japan in the persecution known as Urakami Yonban Kuzure (1867–73). When the survivors came home they built their own church, completed in 1925.
On 9 August 1945 the atomic bomb exploded about half a kilometre away. The cathedral was destroyed and many parishioners died. It was rebuilt in 1959 and re-faced in brick in 1980 to recall the original.
Today it is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Nagasaki. Scorched stone statues and a fallen bell tower from the old church remain on the grounds.
