An oasis of calm
If you ride the escalators up to the Mid-Levels and exit at Rednaxela Terrace, you will notice on your left an ornate gate that usually stands ajar, and behind it, running along a high wall, a flight of old granite steps. It leads to a small courtyard and the Jamia Mosque.
The original mosque was first noted as “Mohammedan Mosque” in a travelogue from 1848. It was the first prayer house of Indian seamen who worked on the clippers of tea and opium traders. Hong Kong’s Muslim community was later enlarged by, among others, Indian policemen and watchmen in the service of the British. As the community grew, in 1896 the much larger mosque at Nathan Road was erected. In 1905 the old Jamia Mosque was torn down and rebuilt from scratch, and today it still serves the Muslim community.
Info
Address 30 Shelley Street, Mid-Levels | Public Transport Bus 10 to Old Bailey Street | Tip In the immediate vicinity (500 metres) lies the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden. From Mosque Street, walking in a southerly direction, take the steps at Bishop Lei House down to the Zoo.
Outside the main entrance lies a peaceful small courtyard with a stone bench under a large tree and an old pre-war house that, although in desperate need of repair, nevertheless remains charmingly beautiful.
Slightly above the mosque, encircled by high-rise buildings, and only accessible via Caine Road, is a chapel that was built around the same time as the mosque. It is the recently renovated Sacred Heart Chapel of the Canossian Mission. It is not open to the public, unless you attend the Italian service on Sunday mornings at 11am. The entrance can be found behind a large glass door at 39 Caine Road. There is a reception desk and on request you might be allowed to take a look at the modest but beautiful chapel.
The proximity of these two buildings symbolises the friendly tolerance that seems to be shared among Hong Kong’s different religious groups. After some 100 members of Hong Kong’s Orthodox community lost their premises on a military base in 1987 due to the withdrawal of the British before the handover, the Canossian Mission made its school chapel available for their Sunday service.
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