A Daughter
Church of
St. John's
Cathedral
Hong Kong

The first Emmanuel Church - Pokfulam, Hong Kong service held in the newly refurbished neo-gothic George C. Tso Memorial Chapel at Béthanie took place on Sunday 17th December 2006.

Béthanie Sanatorium, complete with a neo-gothic chapel was built on a hilltop in Pokfulam, Hong Kong surrounded by dairy pastures by the Missions Etrangères de Paris (the French Mission).  Completed in 1875, Béthanie operated until 1974 as a place for priest and missionaries from all over Asia to recover from tropical diseases before returning to their missions.

From 1974 Béthanie gradually deteriorated until it was carefully restored and converted for use by the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA) as the Academy's Landmark Heritage campus.  The restoration work was completed in December 2006.

A brief History of Béthanie - Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Béthanie was Hong Kong's first sanatorium.  It was built by the Missions Etrangères de Paris (the French Mission often referred to as the MEP) between 1873 and 1875.  It was built on a hilltop (which was thought to be healthier for the patients) surrounded by the dairy pastures at Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

The architect of Béthanie was Fr. Pierre-Marie Osouf - the Procureur (Provider) who was head of the French Mission in Hong Kong and who was later appointed Archbishop in Tokyo.  Fr. Charles Edmond Patriat his assistant supervised the building of Béthanie and became the first Superior (Director) of the House of Béthanie in 1875 when it opened.

Béthanie operated for nearly a century as a place for priest and missionaries from all over Asia to recover from tropical diseases before returning to their missions.

In 1974 Béthanie was sold to Hong Kong Land.  The Hong Kong Government resumed the site in 1975.  For a period of 5 years or so Béthanie was threatened by a demolition order.  In 1981 Béthanie was saved and declared a Grade II listed building.

From 1978 to 1997 Béthanie was used by The University of Hong Kong, at which time it was returned to the Government and gradually deteriorated.

In 2000, the Hong Kong Architectural Services Department commissioned a feasibility study to investigate the restoration of Béthanie.

In March 2003, the Legislative Council approved the capital works funds for the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) to restore Béthanie and two neighbouring Dairy Farm cowsheds as the Academy's Landmark Heritage campus.  The restoration work was completed in December 2006.

Béthanie's restoration was led by Philip Soden, Director of Operations at the HKAPA.  The architect was Philip Liao. During the restoration Philip Soden went on a full-scale scavenger hunt across Hong Kong to recover some of the original furnishings.

The original main altar, reredos (decorated part of the wall behind an altar), communion rails and sacristy doors were found in storage at the Annunciation Church, Tsuen Wan.  They have been returned on loan by kind permission of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong.

Also returned were the massive original chapel doors which were still in use as the front doors to the new French Mission House in Mount Kellet Road.

Locating the nineteen stained-glass windows proved particularly challenging.  Nine of the seventeen original stained glass windows were found and restored.  The remaining windows have been replaced with replicas of the original designs with the generous support of St. John's Cathedral. Two of the original stained glass windows were discovered during the renovations of nearby Chi Fu Fa Yuen housing development, and seven were found at the Freemasons, Zetland Hall on Kennedy Road.

The search is still ongoing for eight of twelve statues of the apostles behind the altar.  Three of the twelve statues were recovered from an art room at one of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Angels' schools. A fourth had been given to the architect who had worked on the new French Mission House and a replica of this was commissioned.

The eight statues of apostles still at large are distinctive in several respects.  They are all 90 cm high with an irregular octagonal base upon which the name of the saint is written in Latin in red gothic script.  To assist with identification the Latin names of the missing apostles are listed below.  Also shown adjacent to the list is an example of two of the recovered apostles:

Should readers of this Béthanie potted history know where these missing apostles might be, please contact Philip Soden, Director of Operations at the HKAPA so they can seek permission to make reproductions and reinstall the missing statues.

The restored Béthanie, houses two performance venues, an exhibition hall, a chapel which is used by Emmanuel Church - Pokfulam. Hong Kong and a museum dedicated to Béthanie and its founders the MEP.

The first Emmanuel Church - Pokfulam, Hong Kong service held in the newly refurbished neo-gothic George C. Tso Memorial Chapel at Béthanie took place on Sunday 17th December 2006.

The use of the Béthanie chapel every Sunday by Emmanuel Church - Pokfulam continues the Christian story of the building.  Between 1974 and 2006 Béthanie did not have a Christian use, however, for most of its history Béthanie was all about Christianity - the Missions Etrangères de Paris and their missionaries in Asia.  At one time the MEP had nearly 60 churches in Guangdong Province alone.

Béthanie's story has been beautifully documented in a book by Prof. Alain Le Pichon, a French historian at the Université Paris Sorbonne - Paris IV, who lives in Paris and Hong Kong. His book "Béthanie & Nazareth" recounts the lives of those who found the rest and medical attention they needed and the socio-political events that impacted on them, the buildings and on the functional, trade city of Hong Kong.  This coffee table book is available in English, French and Chinese.

This is how Prof. Alain Le Pichon describes the Béthanie chapel that is now used for worship by Emmanuel Church - Pokfulam every Sunday:
"The chapel was indeed a remarkable architectural achievement. It had been conceived very much as a functional place of worship, mostly for the use of sick missionaries sent Hong Kong to recuperate.  But its very simplicity was the key to its charm and appeal. 

From the outside, with its domed-roof, its tall, arched windows alternating with its elegant flying buttresses, it was reminiscent of the choir apses of a thirteenth century French cathedral.  And, from inside, an uplifting feeling of space was created by the use of the rib-vaulting technique which first originated in the Ile-de-France area near Paris in the twelfth century.  The application of this technique at the Béthanie chapel was coupled with the use of slim columns whose supporting capitals reach unusually a third of the way up the tall windows to support the ribbing, thus enhancing the feeling of space inside the chapel. 

With the light streaming in through the stained glass of the nineteen tall windows, it was then a beautiful place to come and pray, as it is today a beautiful place to come and visit.

Remarkably, the feeling of peace and serenity was achieved with little, if any regard to ornamental refinement or striking effect.  The architect [Fr. Osouf] and his assistant [Fr. Patriat] were happy to adhere to a few guiding principles, functionality of design, purity of line, time honoured architectural techniques, and they made a virtue of being extremely sparing of expensive stone carvings and other ornamental detail."

Below is a gallery showing some photographs of Béthanie pre and post renovation:

For reference here are some additional links about Béthanie and its restoration:

• A Preliminary Comment on Béthanie Hall by David Michelmore
• Background on Béthanie restoration - produced by Philip Soden - The Hong Kong Academy of Performoing Arts
• Béthanie House
• Born again at Béthanie
• Béthaniereceives UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award
• Images of Béthanie circa 1964
• MIP's Béthanie public gallery on Picasa