Sacred Heart Cathedral, Yangzhou

In 1873, French Jesuit priest Henri Le Lec (刘德耀) came to Yangzhou, Jiangsu, to buy a piece of land to build a church.^[1] The construction project of the church was launched in 1973 and was completed in 1875.^[1] French Jesuit and missionary Adrien Languillat consecrated the church on 1 January 1876.^[1]

In 1949, the Roman Curia set up the Apostolic Prefecture of Yangzhou and the church has served as the cathedral since then.^[1] In 1966, the Cultural Revolution broke out, the bell tower and Crucifixion were removed and the altar was smashed by the Red Guards.^[1] The church was subsequently repurposed as a factory floor.^[1] The church was officially reopened to the public in 1982.^[1] It was renovated and refurbished in 1985.^[1] In April 1995, it was designated as a provincial cultural relic preservation organ by the Jiangsu government.^[1]

The church faces east in the west with a Gothic Revival architecture style, covering an area of 357-square-metre (3,840 sq ft).^[1] It has two 17-metre (56 ft) high bell towers.^[1]