St Saviour’s Cathedral
- Address
- 80 Baron van Reede Street
- Date
- 1965
- Walk
- Baron van Reede Street
- Photographs
- 1
From the heritage walk's own records for this marker
Across the street is St Saviour’s Cathedral. The present cathedral was built on the foundations of the old sandstone church of which the foundation stone had been laid in January 1860 by Fr. MacMahon of George.
In 1965 the new St Saviour’s Cathedral was completed and inaugurated on August 6, 1967. The architects Bergamasco & Associates incorporated a few features of the first church such as stained-glass windows as well as the prominent crucifix in front of the building. The building was designed in the form of a cross with the High Altar set in the centre. Each end of the four arms of the cross features a large ornamental glass window produced in Germany. The roof is constructed of wood and covered with copper plates.
In 2022 a special bell-tower was designed by Leigh-Anne Carlisle of the firm of architects, Smuts & De Kock, of George. It was erected to accommodate the four original bells which had been cast in the Netherlands. Each bell has its own unique name.
On the 10th of April 1943, 500 Polish orphans arrived in Oudtshoorn accompanied by priests. They were refugees of the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union in 1939. In grateful remembrance of their stay in Oudtshoorn, on the 50th anniversary of their arrival in South Africa, they donated a copy of the Black Madonna painting to the cathedral. Visits by these orphans and their descendants occur regularly.