Sheshan Basilica
The National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan crowns the wooded slopes of Sheshan hill west of Shanghai. The present church, completed in 1935 to a design by the Portuguese Jesuit brother Diego de Pantoja's successors, replaced an earlier chapel and became the most important centre of Marian devotion in China.
Each May pilgrims climb the sacred way up the hill to pray before the statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, who holds the Christ Child aloft with outstretched arms. Pope Benedict XVI composed a special prayer for the shrine in 2008 and established 24 May as a day of prayer for the Church in China. Its blend of Romanesque and Gothic forms and its commanding hilltop setting make it a landmark of Chinese Catholicism.
- Annual visitors
- ≈ 400,000
- Location
- 31.0978, 121.1986
- Local time
- 06:35 (Asia/Shanghai)
🕘 Visiting hours
| Mon–Sun | 08:00–16:00 |
Especially busy during the May pilgrimage season.
Care & donations
Diocese of Shanghai
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