Due to city development, a big Gothic-style Catholic church was demolished in Taiyuan, China’s northern Shanxi Province.
On August 25, Beihan Catholic Church was removed then its affiliated 40-meter-high tower exploded to the ground, according to a WeChat account “Xiu’s Diced Chicken with Pepper Restaurant” which has been banned.
The author who claimed himself to be a Catholic follower in China stated that many fellow Catholics forwarded the picture of the explosion of the “beautiful Gothic-style” church, praying to the Lord for his mercy.
Located in Beihan Village, Wanbolin District, the church was at the urban-rural junction with great traffic convenience, said another WeChat platform named “The Catholic Journey of Fellows”. As Catholicism was introduced into the village two hundred years ago, the recent-removed church building was rebuilt on the same site in 1990. Facing the south, the building had a length of around 50 meters and a width of 20 meters. Designed after the Notre Dame cathedral with a cross plan, it had a full-body portrait of Jesus on the middle top.
The WeChat account “Xiu’s Diced Chicken with Pepper Restaurant” added that the buildings around the church were all demolished around 2016 or 2017 because the housing developer planned to remold the block of villages in the city and now the area around the church has been rebuilt.
It continued that the church would be relocated to other site and there was no more detail given.
