Phat Diem Cathedral

Location: Phat Diem Cathedral of Phat Diem Town, Kim Son district, Ninh Binh province.
Features: As a church bearing the oriental architecture.
Phat Diem Cathedral ways 120km south of Hanoi, was built in 1875 - 1898. Phat Diem means generates beauty, called Phat Diem placed by Nguyen Cong Tru. The church was built during 24 years in a row, with the level of technical and traffic conditions of the late 19th century, only the transportation of thousands of tons of rock, which weighs 20 tons of slabs, hundreds ironwood trees on to Phat Diem to build a church as well as a feat. Kim Son which is the clearing new land, formerly very muddy, to handle the settlement of the land before it was moved to build a small mountain about 40km from Phat Diem, guests also visited the church found Calvary, that's the part of the people left the mountain was about Phat Diem.

This is an architectural ensemble consists of the east (from the south go into): Ponds, Phuong Dinh, Cathedral church with four edges on each side, three artificial caves, stone church.

Phuong Dinh is the first region in the architectural planning of Phat Diem cathedral. This is a 25m-high structure, 17m wide, 24m long three-storey building with slate, the largest being the bottom floor is built of bluestone. Phuong Dinh art building is admirable, the craft industry workers assembled locally heavy rocks thousands of pounds, a very high degree of accuracy. The stone arch is fitted to the sophistication. Phuong Dinh placed between a collapsed as monolithic, outside and inside is the bas-relief carved in stone Jesus' image and the beautiful saint with chiseled lines. The second floor of Phuong Dinh hang a big blank. Third floor hang a bell 1.4m high, 1.1m in diameter, weighs almost 2,000 kg, a large bell was cast in Phuong Dinh Phuong Mai in 1890. Dinh has five arches, four in the four corners of the lower arch, highest arch arch in the middle of the third floor. The roof of the Youth in Phat Diem cathedral spiers style tall not like the other churches that are low curved roof old as the pavilion, temple roof.

Cathedral: Cathedral is the main church was built in 1891, has five entrances carved stone surround. Cathedral 74m long, 21m wide, 15m high, with four roof. In the church there are 6 ironwood monolithic columns, two rows of columns between 11m high, 2,35m circumference, weighing about 10 tons each column.

Upper space of the cathedral with a large altar made a monolithic slab 3m long, 0.9m wide, 0.8m high and weighs about 20 tons. The front and sides are carved the typical flowers of the four seasons such as the altar is covered with a bright colored scarf jelly. Two side church has four small church architecture in a unique style.

Cathedral Stone: stone church is also known as the church dedicated to Our Lady's heart. Stone church called because everything in this church are made of stone, from the foundations, walls, columns, doors ... Inside the bars were nice touches many reliefs, particularly the four-carvings : spare, apricot, chrysanthemum, bamboo, symbolizing the weather and the beauty of the four seasons separately for one year. Brush strokes depicting animals such as lions, phoenix extraordinarily vivid.

Artificial cave: the north zone 3 Phat Diem cathedral cave created by the various large and small rocks retain a natural appearance. In particular, is the most beautiful cave Lourdes

Phat Diem Cathedral, a unique architecture unique in Vietnam The magnificent structures, but in harmony with the magnificent natural scenery, stylish oriental architecture.