More visitors seek cathedrals, historic churches

Notes: "[W]ith files from Tali Folkins, Anglican Journal Staff Write".; "Visitors to Church of England cathedrals numbered 10 million in 2018 -- an increase of more than 10 % on the previous year, according to a November [2019] report published by the church". "Quebec City's Cathedral of the Holy Trinity had 240,000 visitors in 2018 -- up from 149,000 five years previously, says Tommy Byrne, project manager at the cathedral". "Generating income through tourist visits is important to the cathedral, Byrne says, given its costs -- including an estimated $4 million in repairs needed over the next decade". "Visits to St. Paul's [Anglican Church in Halifax] -- the oldest continuous Anglican place of worship in Canada, as well as Halifax's oldest building -- now total between 12,000 and 14,000 per year, [the Rev. Paul] Friesen says". St. Anne's Anglican Church in Toronto "attracts some tourists interested in heritage and the arts. Built in 1907, the church borrows its dome from the tradition of Byzantine architecture, exemplified by the the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. During the 1920s, ten artists, including three future members of the Group of Seven painted the murals that grace the church's interior -- the Group's only known religious works. Recently the church has been more intentional about inviting visitors, says Canon Gary van der Meer, incumbent at St. Anne's".

Subjects: Cathedrals - Church of England; Tourism - Religious aspects - Church of England; Tourism - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Quebec, Que.); Byrne, Tommy; St. Paul's Anglican Church (Halifax, N.S.); Friesen, Paul (Paul Henry), 1957-; St. Anne's Anglican Church (Toronto, Ont.); Group of Seven (Group of artists); van der Meer, Gary