Historic churches of Sai Kung Peninsula
The historic churches of Sai Kung form a group of 11 Roman Catholic churches and chapels established in the 19th and 20th centuries by missionaries in the Sai Kung Peninsula and surrounding islands, across modern day administrative areas: the Sai Kung District and Sai Kung North of Tai Po District.
History
The churches were established by missionaries from the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Milan. The first missionary to take up residence in Sai Kung Peninsula, in 1865, was Fr. P. Gaetano Origo. A first chapel was opened in the market town of Sai Kung in the late 1865.- Hakka villages included: Wong Mo Ying, Yim Tin Tsai
- Punti villages included: Chek Keng, Tai Long Tsuen
List of churches
Location | Notes | Status | References | Photographs |
Tai Long Tsuen, Tai Long Wan | Chapel of the Immaculate Conception Built in 1867. | Grade III | ||
Chek Keng | Holy Family Chapel. Built in 1874 to replace an earlier chapel that had been damaged by a storm in 1867. The whole village later converted to Catholicism. During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, the chapel was a base of the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Battalion of the East River Guerrilla. | Grade II | ||
Tan Ka Wan | St. Peter's Chapel Built in 1873. | Pending | ||
Sham Chung | Epiphany of Our Lord Chapel Established in 1879. Rebuilt in 1956. The Chapel housed a school called Kung Man School, which had about 50 pupils and two teachers. | Pending | ||
Pak Sha O | Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel. A first chapel was built in Pak Sha O in 1880 on another site. The conversion of Pak Sha O into a Catholic village partly resulted from the desire of the villagers to combat the harassment of the tax-lords of Sheung Shui. The current chapel was built between 1915 and 1923. The site is now used as a training campsite by the Catholic Scout Guild. | Grade III | ||
Yim Tin Tsai | St. Joseph's Chapel A first chapel was built in Yim Tin Tsai in 1866. By 1875, the entire community of Yim Tin Tsai had embraced Catholicism. Built in 1890, the current chapel received the Award of Merit by the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2005. | Grade II | ||
Pak Tam Chung | Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel aka. Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Chapel Built in 1900. | Pending | ||
Pak A, High Island | Lung Shun Wan Mission Centre Built in 1910. | Not listed | ||
Long Ke | Nativity of Our Lady Chapel Built in 1918. | Pending | ||
Wong Mo Ying, Tai Mong Tsai | Rosary Mission Centre Built in 1940. On February 3, 1942, the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Battalion under the People's Anti-Japanese Principal Guerrilla Force of Guangdong, or Dongjiang Guerrilla Force, was established in Wong Mo Ying Church. | Grade II | ||
Sai Wan, Tai Long Wan | Star of the Sea Chapel aka. Star of the Sea Mass Centre Built in 1953. | Pending |