The Restoration of Kingston’s Holy Trinity Cathedral
12 February 2010 by Karin in Worth A Visit [ 3 comments ]
Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street, Kingston
I attended the 99th Anniversary mass at the Roman Catholic Holy Trinity Cathedral on North Street last Sunday and was completely pleasantly surprised by the amazing restoration program that is underway there.
For those who don’t know, the inside of the Cathedral was completed painted over with several layers of grey paint in 1970 (supposedly because the beautiful wall murals were a distraction to the congregation). The restoration of the entire inside of the cathedral has been ongoing since 2007 spearheaded by a team of Spanish restoration experts who came to Jamaica and trained a group of community residents in the delicate art of restoration.
Their talent and hard work is evident and much appreciated as the Cathedral’s newly restored wall murals and panels of stained glass are simply amazing. The Cathedral is a place Catholics and all Kingstonians can be proud of.
A stained glass panel
After Mass at Holy Trinity
The murals on the ceiling above the altar
The interior of the Cathedral
THE RESTORATION OF HOLY TRINITY CATHEDRAL IS A DREAM COME TRUE.I WAS BAPTISED,MADE MY FIRST COMMUNION, CONFIRMED AND MARRIED THERE.I ALSO SPENT SIXTEEN YEARS AS ALTAR SERVER.WE USE TO PRAY IN LATIN LANGUAGE (INOMINI PARTER ET FILLIO ET SPIRITU O SANTE AMEN.)IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AMEN.
(POLICE, BIGGA FORD WILL TELL YOU TOO.)
I REMEMBER MAKING A COMMENT TO MY FRIENDS BACK IN THE 70S THAT THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE BEAUTY OF A CATHEDRAL,THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND IN THIS HEMESPHERE.THEY COVERED IT WITH WEIRD GREY AND WHITE PAINT.THEY NEVER KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING THEN.
I WATCHED THEM PAINTED IT, REMOVE GOOD AND EXPENSIVE MARBLE WORK,AND THE BEAUTIFUL CHANDELIER.O WHAT A WASTE WHEN THE REPLACEMENT WAS CHEAP LOOKING.I KNOW THAT DOWN THE YEARS THEY WOULD REGRET IT. I WAS SO HAPPY AT THAT TIME THEY DID NOT TOUCH OUR UNIQUE ORGAN.
THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE LOCAL AND FOREIGNERS ESPECIALLY THE SPANISH PEOPLE WHO WORKED TIRELESS TO SAVE A HISTORIC BEAUTY SIGHT LIKE OUR CATHEDRAL
IT IS LOOKING SO BEAUTIFUL AGAIN, I LOVE IT AS IS.
RGDS
FROM THE DESLANDES FAMILY WE ALL WORSHIPPED THERE.
What a nice place, looking at those pictures seems like its a very holy and relaxing place, i’ll gonna visit there sometime.
A nice holy Cathedral indeed. If it’s in the process of restoration, I can’t picture yet how was it look before. Thanks for letting me read this great post.