St John’s Cathedral

Consecrated in 1849, this Anglican cathedral is one of the very few colonial structures still standing in Central. Criticised for blighting the colony’s landscape when it was first erected, St John’s is now lost in the forest of skyscrapers that make up Central. The tower was added in 1850 and the chancel extended in 1873. Services have been held here continuously since the cathedral opened, except in 1944, when the Japanese Imperial Army used it as a social club. The cathedral suffered heavy damage during WWII and after the war the front doors were remade using timber salvaged from HMS Tamar, a British warship that used to guard the entrance to Victoria Harbour, and the beautiful stained-glass East Window was replaced. You walk on sacred ground in more ways than one at St John’s: it is the only piece of freehold land in Hong Kong. There’s usually a free organ concert at 1.15pm on Wednesdays. Enter from Battery Path.