Easter Monday. Christchurch, New Zealand.

I begin the day with brunch at Cafe Metro on Colombo. Today I am off the tourist track to arguably the finest building in Christchurch, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, which sadly most tourists ignore as it is not sited in the central tourist area.

The Cathedral stands today as an enduring symbol of the vision and courage of a bishop and the faith and generosity of his people. It had its beginnings in a small wooden building erected on the site in 1860.

The land had been granted to the Church by the Provincial Council and the small building served as chapel and home for the first resident priest appointed to the Christchurch Mission.

As the "non-establishment" church of the Empire and in this Anglican community, the land granted by the Provincial Council for the building was sited on the edge of the settlement in an area prone to subsidence. The resulting building is magnificent yet even today this remains an ugly industrial part of town. In any other city this gem would be set in parkland and would be a must see.

The original Church of the Blessed Sacrament opened in 1864 and was greatly enlarged in later years. It became the Pro Cathedral of the Diocese of Christchurch upon its establishment in 1887. Its first bishop, the Rt.Rev. John Joseph Grimes SM (Society of Mary) dreamt of replacing the ageing and inadequate church with a Cathedral that would honour God and grace the young and growing city. Grimes had been born in Bromley, Kent (a town in which I once lived, just 8 years before the Canterbury Association founded the City of Christchurch).

At the turn of the last century his dream became a reality with the Cathedral built to the designs of Francis William Petre bewteen 1901 and 1905.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is regarded as one of the finest examples of church architecture in Australasia. Petre specialised in the building of churches and achieved considerable recognition in the field of architecture and engineering. He was a pioneer in concrete construction.

The Cathedral so impressed George Bernard Shaw that he hailed its architect as a "New Zealand Brunelleschi".

The foundation stone of the Cathedral was laid in 1901 and the contractors, J & W Jamieson completed the building in four years. Fifty men were employed on its construction which required more than 120,000 cubic feet of stone, 4000 cubic feet of concrete and 90 tons of steel. The Cathedral was blessed and opened on the 12th of February 1905 at a total cost of fifty two thousand pounds.

The Cathedral is often referred to as "the Basilica". While its style is Roman Renaissance and based on that of old Roman basilicas, it contains much that is original. Normally the dome would be sited above the junction of the nave and the transept. By placing the dome above the sanctuary the architect provided a visual climax to the interior which is rich in movement and delightful in its simplicity.

The whole of the interior presents a harmony of spacious arcades, colonnades with their varied (Corinthian and Ionic) capitals and an interplay of gracious arches. The ambulatory and gallery provide a cool special feeling and the beauty of the interior is further enhanced by the mosaic tiling in the sanctuary and ceilings of embossed zinc. The Cathedral itself is some 210ft long and 106ft wide with a dome that reaches 135ft. There is permanent seating for 600 but up to one thousand can be accommodated on great occasions.

Points to see...

The Bishop's Chair situated in the apse which establishes the building as a Cathedral, with the word 'cathedral' coming from the Latin for chair.

The Altar of reconstituted stone containing the relics of Saints Severinus and Lucidus (from the former high altar); St Anthony Mary Zaccaria (presented by Pope Leo XIII) and St Peter Chanel (the first martyr of Oceania).

The two stained glass windows by Zettler of Munich representing St Monica and St Augustine and the espousal of Joseph and Mary.

The Memorial Chapel containing the tomb of the first Bishop of Christchurch who built the Cathedral and the showcase of books recording the names of all who contributed to the building and conservation of the Cathedral.

The Lady Chapel containing the tomb of Bishop Joyce the fourth Bishop of Christchurch. The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour here was brought from Rome in 1898 and the bas-reliefs on the walls were incorporated in the reredos of the former high altar. The 'Tapestry of Light' in the stained glass here is the work of Phillip Trusttum of Christchurch and was made to mark the Cathedral's 75th Jubilee in 1980.

The stained glass windows in the nave were made in Chartres, France for the Pro-Cathedral and they depict Sts Peter and Paul and the four Evangelists.

The two spiral staircases give access to the gallery and the North Tower houses four bells cast in Belgium in 1904 with a total weight of 3,660 kgs.

The organ is the work of Halmshaw's of Birmingham and was installed in the Pro-Cathedral in 1879. It is the only example of its kind remaining in New Zealand.

The four piers that support the dome are carrying more than 1721 tonnes and three of them contain spiral staircases to the galleries above. In the fourth there is a strongroom containing the Church records dating from 1864. The archives of the Diocese with records dating back to 1840 are housed in the South Tower.

The Sanctuary Organ in the gallery above was made by Bevington and Son in London in 1870 and installed in the Cathedral as a second organ in 1976 after service in three other churches.

The Sanctuary Mosaic was laid by Italian workmen who were brought over from Sydney for the purpose in 1916.

The Blessed Sacrament Chapel was created in 1975 from two existing chapels (and it looks so 70's). Two works of art were commissioned for this chapel; the bronze doors of the tabernacle are by Ria Bancroft and the tapestry is the work of Ida Lough, both of Christchurch.

The semi-circular windows over the West Door commemorate the Episcopal silver jubilee (1912) of Bishop Grimes. Representing the title of the Cathedral they are the work of Zettler of Munich.

I spent a wonderful afternoon in the company of the lovely ladies who maintain this splendid church.

Tonight I dine at Cafe Valentino on Colombo where the food was exquisite and the service good.