St Nicholas Church

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  • Address
    16 Gaolan Rd, French Concession
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  • Transport
    underground rail: South Huangpi Rd

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Lonely Planet review

A short walk west along Gaolan Rd from Fuxing Park is rewarded by the distinctive shape of the vacant and now derelict St Nicholas Church, one of Shanghai's small band of Russian Orthodox houses of worship, built to service the huge influx of Russians who arrived in Shanghai in the 1930s.

Dating from 1934, the church has a typically varied CV, ranging from shrine to washing-machine factory and French restaurant (the latter recalled by the inscription 'Ashanti Dome' on the plaque embedded above the door). The church was spared destruction during the Cultural Revolution by a portrait of Mao Zedong, hung strategically from its dome.