Holy Trinity, Karachi. Captain Hill. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Captain Hill’s Holy Trinity Church, Karachi, is unlike anything else that I have seen in the region — a Romanesque basilica constructed in local Gizri sandstone. The authorities were none too impressed: “The mixed style in which this proposed edifice has been designed is not in itself objectionable, the circular apse has been adopted at the suggestion of Mr. Frere, Commissioner in Sindh as being at once cheap and adapted to the climate.... We cannot however consider the spire to be at all in harmony with the rest of the building and we recommend its omission and the Tower be raised into a Tower for Bells”. Work began in 1852. The tower originally had five levels and was said to be used as a lookout tower (or even lighthouse) for ships entering the harbour but two of the levels were removed in 1904 and my photograph shows that the remaining three storeys are beginning to lean alarmingly towards the nave.
Related Material
Photograph and text by Tim Willasey-Wilsey [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Last modified 27 September 2014