Oura Cathedral & Dutch Slope

Oura is the oldest church in Japan, built in 1864 for foreign residents. Weeks after it opened, a group of Japanese villagers approached a priest and identified themselves as Christians, the first hidden Christians to surface after 250 years of prohibition. It is a National Treasure and part of the UNESCO listing.

The church went up after Japan opened its ports in 1859 to serve foreign Catholics. In 1865 hidden Christians from the Urakami area came here and told Father Petitjean they shared his faith. That moment is why the church matters beyond its architecture. The building reached its present form in 1879, was designated a National Treasure in 1953 (an earlier designation dates from 1933), and was listed as part of the Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki and Amakusa in 2018.

The visit is a set route. The courtyard statue of the Virgin Mary was a gift from France to mark the 1865 discovery. Inside you see the baptismal font, the bishop's chair, the main altar and the stained glass of the crucifixion: the original was destroyed by the atomic bomb and the current glass was made in Paris. The rose window was moved to a side chapel in 1875, which the church says helped it survive the bomb.

The catch: photography is forbidden inside, you must be quiet and keep your phone off, and there is a long climb of steps. If you are not interested in the history, the exterior and the Dutch Slope are free to see from the lane. It may also close for church events, so check the day.