Featured Image Source: Michael Jefferies, Under Creative Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/14573979@N00/35315345783
The Holy Ghost Cathedral in Mombasa stands at the corner of Nyerere Road and Nkrumah Road. The Cathedral is the main Roman Catholic Cathedral in Mombasa. Plans for the Cathedral were drawn up in 1919 and the building was completed 4 years later in 1923. The construction work was supervised by brother Gustave Walter. The residence of the Priest which is connected to the Cathedral was completed in 1900 when the old church still stood there. Mombasa was erected a diocese in 1955 with a Bishop being appointed the same year for Mombasa and Zanzibar. The current Archbishop of Mombasa is Boniface Lele who was appointed in 2005. The building is still in use today and has ceremonies in English and Kiswahili.
The building is built in a Romanesque style and is constructed mainly of stone blocks. The building has a classical cross shape to its floor plan with two towers denoting the entrance.
The two tower are symmetrical and have a square base. From the square base the tower ‘jump’ back 5 times. The tops of the tower are not square but rather octagonal, having 8 sides. The towers end with a relatively flat roof and a cross spire.
In between these two towers stands the main entrance. The entrance has a double door with a thick beam in the centre. The door frame is also made of stone and is thick and bold. The door has an arch above is with some engravings on the face of the arch. Directly above this arch, there stands a large round stain glass window. The final element in the entrance ensemble is the roof. The roof has 9 long thin archs that go across the hight of the roof. The middle three archs have small window slits to allow extra light into the Cathedral. There is a large cross at the highest point of the roof.
The interior of the building is light and bright. The walls and roof are painted white and make the space feel airy and sacred. The roof is made up of two distinct arches. Each window on the side too has its own arch. This makes the roof very complex and interesting. These archs are denoted with brown painted lines. The Altar stands in a semi-circle space which is lit up with 3 large windows.
Sources: Holy Ghost Cathedral, Wikipedia, Web Archive, Google Maps, Open Street Map
Third World Architecture 
