Another of my favourite buildings when I was in Christchurch in 2007 -- the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. This Herald article has the caption confused with Christchurch's Anglican cathedral, I think -- but the image (as at 7.00 am today) of devastation and the remains of the green dome and stonework on the ground tell me that the building has been severely damaged.
Lovely, lovely people amongst the church members, another pleasant memory of my visit to that city. Once again, I truly hope that no one was hurt in yesterday's 'quake.
The aerial footage we're getting on the ghoulish news showed such destruction of this building, have had to turn the news off, it's distressing :(
ReplyDeleteI took off today to get away from the telly and the 'Net, and did some other reswarch. I'm back home now, though. Still feel a mixture of numbness/disbelief/weepiness.
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather's name is on a plaque of donors here for the erection of this Cathedral. And my grandparents married here. It has been closed to the public since the 7.1 quake, so I hope nobody was inside when this quake struck.
ReplyDeleteAh, so the 7.2 got to it first, then? Sad.
ReplyDeleteIt received some cracks etc in the first quake, and after engineers reports it was decided to close it for repairs. There was nothing like the damage to the facade in this quake.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kiwi Nomad. Just a bloody shame. I love that building.
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom of this February news page you can read what was being done then in terms of support for the structure etc. http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=2511#Latest_News
ReplyDeleteThe two front towers were the weak point, according to those reports. They were the parts which copped it in this second quake. Without the 7.2, they may still have come down, because this one was shallower and more violent, but -- the 7.2 probably started things off in terms of weakness.
ReplyDeleteLast I heard there were 22 people missing within the cathedral. But like you, I have had to turn the tele off. I am much better off reading and having my own internalised commentary, than that fake-emoting on the box.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers waved around on the telly right now fluctuate so much. I'll wait until we finally know.
ReplyDeleteJUlie, that was in the Anglican Cathedral- but this photo is of the Catholic Cathedral. Since it was closed after the last quake, hopefully nobody was inside.
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