Destroyed 500 m from the hypocentre in '45: a restored bell has been ringing again since 2025.
Completed in March 1914 after twenty years of work by the local Catholic community, it was one of the largest churches in East Asia when, on 9 August 1945, the explosion about 500 metres away almost completely destroyed it, killing some of the roughly 3,200 members of the parish. A damaged wooden statue of the Virgin Mary was found in the rubble and brought back to the church in 1990; a small bell, silent for 80 years, was restored and rang again on 9 August 2025.
Rebuilt in reinforced concrete and completed on 1 November 1959, after a temporary chapel put up in December 1946, it has been the seat of the Catholic diocese of Nagasaki since 1962 and has about 7,000 parishioners.
ℹ️ Open to tourist visits, with daily Mass. Specific visiting hours for tourists to be checked on the official website.
🚉 Urakami · 18 min walk
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