古城Bagamoyo(之五)-The Catholic Church(天主教堂)

文/图 龙世界

 古城Bagamoyo共五篇。(之一至之五）

建于19世纪，目前仍在使用的东非最古老的天主教堂。

   Bagamoyo的天主教堂，被罗马教廷授予“东非教堂之首”。从19世纪末至废除奴隶交易及欧洲探险者来到非洲大陆，它一直都是一个焦点，包括庆祝发现非洲东北部尼罗河的源头，也是在这里举行的。

塔楼侧面。

教堂侧门上部。

教堂后部。

主教Armand Maupoint从圣丹尼斯岛及马达加斯加东面的留尼旺斯岛派来传教士，于1868年7月17日开始建造这个天主教堂，并且开始从最低的民众阶层与奴隶制度进行斗争。

在神父Anthony Horner的带领下，传教士们开始赎回奴隶，并把他们安排在Bagamoyo北部一个基督教区的村庄。在这个村庄里，获得自由的奴隶们拿到了他们小学教育的学费以及职业的方面的培训，例如：木工、铁匠和农业种植。他们中的许多人成了基督教徒及基层传教士，并且到肯尼亚及坦噶尼喀的其它地区建立新的教区，继续同奴隶制度进行斗争。

今天的Bagamoyo天主教堂，依然有幼儿园，职业教育有：木工、电力工程、石匠及裁缝，有一个卫生所及一个女子寄宿中学。Majengo的郊区，最近刚刚建好了一个中心教区，成了第二个家。

这里除了继承前辈的宗教及教育的传统外，也是一个公开的博物馆，欢迎众多的访问者在请愿的时候，来了解Bagamoyo历史和这里的过去。

 

Bagamoyo天主教堂博物馆，前身是一座修女的房子。开放时间：上午10点至下午5点。

Sister's house(修女的房子)第一层建于1876年，第二层建于1896年，外围回廊建于1916。

这个天主教堂及博物馆修缮的非常不错。

博物馆内德国人1913年在坦噶印的第一份报纸。

博物馆内一只银的烟灰缸，很有特色。

博物馆内一件图案丰富的门。

 

   以下这些都是天主教堂周围不可分割的部分：

   1868年，天主教区开始建造，奠基仪式时，种下了这棵Baobab（面包树）。它是这一教区历史的见证。

   Baobab身份资料：生于1868年；1912年，周长5.44米；2000年，周长12.50米。2009年，估计不会超过14米。下面的两张白纸详细的记录了树及这一教区发展的经历。

这是树旁边，由修女们1868年建造的医院，现在依然是医院。

1872年的教堂塔楼，是东非海岸第一座教堂留下来的。

年代标示牌。

塔楼内景。

神父Anthony Horner的生平事迹。

   这个塔楼的名字是“Livingstone Tower”。用这个名字是因为当时有一位名为David Livingstone的苏格兰传教士，在去逝后，于1874年2月24-25日，尸体被运回伦敦之前，在这里停留了一夜。

Dr. David Livingstone生平事迹。

Old Father House(神父的房子)正面，立有基督耶稣雕像，这是天主教的典型特点。

      Old Father House侧面，这张照片拍得不太理想。从右侧边基本能分辨出，这是个三层的建筑。

Old Father House后面，那棵椰子树由于有了房屋的庇护，长得又高又直。

第一屋建于1873，第二层建于1877，第三层1903。

 

古老的Bagamoyo，一座写满了历史的城。今天，我向它挥手告别。希望不久的将来，能再次探求它的神秘。

--完--     

 

2008年1月3日于坦桑

 

相关博文:

1、古城Bagamoyo(之一)-概述.

2、古城Bagamoyo(之二)-German Boma.

3、古城Bagamoyo(之三)-东非要塞.

4、古城Bagamoyo(之四)-Kaole Ruins(Kaole遗址).

5、古城Bagamoyo(之五)-The Catholic Church(天主教堂)

 

 

Honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the “Mother of all Parishes in East Africa” the historic Catholic Parish of Bagamoyo was a focal point both in the late 19th- century drive to abolish the African slave trade and the European exploration of the African interior, including the celebrated search for the source of the Nile. 

Spiritan  missionaries established the Catholic Parish of Bagamoyo on 17 July, 1868, sent by Bishop Armand Maupoint from St. Denis/Reunion Island east of Madagascar to fight slavery on the grass-roots level.Led by Father Superior Anthony Horner, the missionaries began ransoming slaves  and  resettling them in a Christian Freedom Village in north Bagamoyo, carrying on the efforts began by the RC order initially on the islands of St. Denis/Reunion and, in 1860, on the neighboring island of Zanzibar.At the Village  the freed slaves received elementary school tuition as well as vocational training in areas such as carpentry, blacksmithing and farming. 

Many of them adopted Christianity and became lay missionaries, traveling to Kenya and other parts of Tanganika to establish new missions and parishes and to continue their fight against slavery.Today's Catholic Parish of Bagamoyo also runs Kindergartens, a vocational training school with departments for carpentry, electrical engineering, masonry and tailoring, a health center, and a  secondary boarding school for girls. The suburb of Majengo is the home of a second, recently completed Parish center.

In addition to carrying on the religious and educational traditions of their predecessors, the Parish today also functions as an open-air museum that welcomes all visitors while  memorializing Bagamoyo's history and the mission's past.

 

Open every day from l0 a,m. to 5 p.m., points-of- interest include:
- a Cross, erected on a nearby beach where Catholic missionaries in 1868 first set foot on the East African mainland;
- a Baobab tree on the mission grounds, planted that same year to commemorate the Mission's founding;
- the 1872 church tower, the first to be built in East Africa;
- the Old Fathers House, built during the years 1863 - 1903;
- the Sisters House, now the Parish Museum, completed in 1876;
- the "Grotto", a small chapel built by ex-slaves and completed in 1876;
- the Old Cemetery, which includes 47 tombs housing the remains of early missionaries; 
- the "new" Parish church, built from 1910 - 1915.
Catholic services are held on Sundays at 7 a.m., 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Conducted in native Kiswahili, all the services are accompanied by some lively singing.