Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
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Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool. Its official name is Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, it replaced the Pro-Cathedral of St Nicholas, Copperas Hill.
Edwin Lutyens's original design for the cathedral would have created a massive classical/byzantine structure that would have been the second largest church in the world. The dome was to have been the world's largest. Financial restrictions caused the abandonment of this building after only the crypt had been built.
The cathedral stands on the site of the Liverpool Workhouse, on Hope Street. Facing it at the opposite end of Hope Street is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool, the city's Anglican Cathedral. The new cathedral, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd and consecrated in 1967, was built over the crypt.
The church is circular in shape, with chapels built in between the buttresses that support the tent-shaped spire (which represents the crown of thorns of Jesus) like tent poles. A short film, Crown of Glass, documents the construction of the Cathedral's rainbow-coloured stained glass windows.
The Cathedral is affectionately known as "Paddy's Wigwam" because of its largely Irish Catholic congregation and its general resemblance to a Native American teepee. If the possibility of causing offence is to be avoided, the alternative nickname "the Mersey Funnel" can be used.
The church's exterior is concrete, which has not worn well and suffers from leaks. There is a belfry to the east of the church. A new stepped approach has recently been built. It should also be noted that other new building have been been either side of the steps, and as such, the current picture would no longer be possible.
External links
- Cathedral site (http://www.liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk/index.htm)
- Also, the Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest in the UK. It has a very large repetoire from contempary music to Gregorian Chant.