Throughout August, Christ Church Cathedral will be luminescent in pink and blue, lighting up Cathedral Square and reminding people that there is a project underway to reinstate the Cathedral.

Dean of Christchurch Lawrence Kimberley is delighted that the Cathedral is helping to light up the central city this winter.

“Light has always featured strongly in our Cathedral experience. The stained glass windows and Rose Window used the power of light to bring to life their special stories, creating beauty, and a sense of awe and wonder.

“This night lighting reminds us how light reflected through the Cathedral windows, changing throughout the day and according to the season, producing dramatic coloured patterns on the walls and the floor. We look forward to experiencing that again in the reinstated Cathedral.

“We urge people to come and see the night lights, to pause, to reflect, and to reconnect with the Cathedral,” says Dean Lawrence.

Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Project Director Keith Paterson says that the project will be retaining as many of the Cathedral’s heritage features and as much stained glass as possible.

“For most people the reinstated Cathedral will appear unchanged, but importantly, it will be safer, more comfortable, more flexible and better equipped for the future.

“Right now we are doing the critical planning needed before stabilisation of the building starts in the first quarter of next year. Although people won’t see much work on site this year, the project is well underway,” Mr Paterson says.

Lighting up the Cathedral has been made possible through the generosity of Development Christchurch Limited who loaned the projector that was procured for the ‘Light Up Christchurch’ project.

Fun facts

• The Cathedral was first lit by electricity in 1922.
• The old gas lamps had taken one hour to light on each occasion.
• The Rose Window contained more than 4000 pieces of glass and measured 7.5 meters in diameter.

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