St. Paul’s Cathedral – Kolkata

St. Paul’s Cathedral is located at the heart of Kolkata town, India. This Gothic style cathedral was initially built in 1847. But later it suffered by the notorious earthquake of 1897 and again in 1934. After that it was renovated using a revised design. This is the first cathedral built in an overseas territory of British empire. This magnificent edifice is located at the Cathedral road of Kolkata where the other attractions such as Maidan, Victoria Memorial, Tara mandal (Planetarium), etc are nearby.

View of the Cathedral from the backside.

About my visit

After visiting the Botanic Garden of Kolkata I’ve had few hours from the day remaining. The taxi driver has dropped me near the St. Paul’s Cathedral as I wanted to visit this place. I’ve visited several churches and cathedral before, but this one was totally unique compare to all. The Indo-Gothic style of the church would attract anyone who loves architectural design. It didn’t take me too long to explore the area. This cathedral is open for everyone to do prayer and visiting.

View of the Cathedral during the entrance.

Opening time and entry fee

The church remains open from Monday to Saturday (9:00am – 12:00pm). And in Sunday it remains open from 7:30am to 6:00pm. Fortunately this place doesn’t require any entry fee from the visitors.

Few Roman style at the front side.

How to go

This St Paul’s Cathedral is near from the metro line of Kolkata. If you are not used to with Indian public transportation then this service is an option for you. Rabindra Sadan or the Maidan metro stoppage is near from this church. Ask anyone to show you direction if you need help. You could also use the taxis as they are cheap in Kolkata compare to western currency. GPS Coordinate of the church is (22°32’39.0″N, 88°20’47.3″E).

This small clocktower is atop of the St Paul’s Cathedral.

Where to stay in Kolkata:

Booking.com

Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal. That’s why you’d find plenty of high or low quality hotels around. And most of the hotels are available to book through online. I’ve stayed in a cheap hotel (probably named Hotel oriental, and rent was 1000 rupees). You can find list of hotels from Kolkata from this link. Just an FYI, not all hotels from Kolkata can accept foreign guest as they need to maintain some sort of minimum standard and formalities.

A nice floral design in the wall of Cathedral.

Other places nearby

St Paul’s Cathedral is surrounded by plenty of attractions from Kolkata. Those such places are Victoria Memorial, Maidan, Birla Planetarium, Indian museum, etc. All those places are possible to visit in a single day.