Urakami Cathedral

Nagasaki


Once the largest church in Asia (1914), the cathedral took three decades to complete and three seconds to flatten. This smaller replacement cathedral was completed in 1959 on the ruins of the original. Walk around the side of the hill to see a belfry lying in state where the original building fell after the atomic blast.

Catholic visitors are welcome to worship, in a side chapel where the original hibaku Maria is kept, a charred figure of the Virgin Mary.

Transportation

  • tram: Atomic Bombing Museum

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nagasaki attractions

1. Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum

0.25 MILES

This small but quietly moving museum celebrates the courage and faith of one man in the face of overwhelming adversity. Already suffering from leukaemia,…

2. Peace Statue

0.26 MILES

At the far end of the Peace Park, this hulking, muscular bronze statue by Nagasaki Prefecture native Kitamura Seibō is a much-photographed symbol of the…

3. Peace Park

0.32 MILES

A still, serene and deeply moving place, Nagasaki's Peace Park commemorates the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945, which reduced the…

5. Atomic Bomb Hypocentre Park

0.35 MILES

A must-see for anyone coming to Nagasaki for its historic significance, this park houses a smooth, black-stone column that marks the point above which the…

6. Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

0.35 MILES

On 9 August 1945, the world's second nuclear weapon detonated over Nagasaki, and this sombre place recounts the city's destruction and loss of life…

7. One-Pillar Torii

0.64 MILES

The atomic blast knocked down half of the stone entrance arch to Sanno-jinja shrine, 800m southeast of the hypocentre, but the other pillar remains, a…

8. Shiroyama Elementary School

0.64 MILES

This was the closest school to the nuclear blast, up a hill a mere 500m away, and 1400 children perished here. Nowadays, it's hard not to be moved by the…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "japan/kyushu/nagasaki/attractions/urakami-cathedral/a/poi-sig/429560/356734",
      "destination": "Nagasaki",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Japan",
      "city": "Nagasaki",
      "position": "superzone"
    }