Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians - Reviews From Travellers

What travellers say about Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians

Nithin Mathew01 Dec 2015

★★★★★

7

The church was built by the Catholic missionaries to the north east area of India. It has a modern gothic architecture, and unlike most of the other churches I have seen, this is painted in dark blue. A unique feature of the church is that it stands on sand. Shillong is prone to severe earthquakes, and this is done to prevent damage on the church at the times of earthquakes. At the time of building the church's foundation, trenches were cut from rock and half filled with sand. The church so has no direct connection with the rock. Theoratically, at times of earthquakes the sand underneath should provide elesticity for the structure so that it can rock safely on the shock absorbing sand, supposedly to reducing the intensity. Cameras are not allowed inside the church so no pictures, but it is magnificent in there. There are no restrictions on using camera outside though.

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Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians

A unique feature of the Cathedral Church building is that it stands on sand. The type of foundation was recommended since the region, where Shillong is located, is prone to severe earthquakes. At the time of building the foundation, trenches were cut from rock and half-filled with sand. The structure has no direct connection with the rock. Theoretically, the Church building, in times of earthquakes, can rock safely on the shock-absorbing sand which is supposed to reduce the earthquake's effects.

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