Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Beijing
Baroque cathedral rebuilt on Beijing's oldest Catholic mission site, burned in the Boxer Rebellion and raised again in nineteen oh four.
This guide to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing traces the city's oldest Catholic mission, founded when Matteo Ricci persuaded the Wanli Emperor to let him build a chapel by this gate in 1605. You'll hear how the German Jesuit Johann Adam Schall von Bell, who ran the imperial observatory, won such favor that the Shunzhi Emperor visited two dozen times, and how later emperors paid to rebuild the church after earthquakes and a fire. It follows the site into 1900, when the Boxer Rebellion swept through. Notice how the site's fortunes always turned on imperial favor.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.