Grand Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of Osaka

Built in 1894 as St Agnes Church, it burned in an air raid, and in 1963 it was reborn as the Osaka Cathedral of St Mary. Because the site was the former residence of the Hosokawa daimyo family, the square in front of the cathedral holds stone statues of Hosokawa Gracia and the Christian daimyo Takayama Ukon, and the painting 'Lady Gracia on Her Last Day' by the late Domoto Insho hangs on the wall. Hosokawa Gracia was the third daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide; she married Hosokawa Tadaoki and was baptised. At the Battle of Sekigahara she refused to enter Osaka Castle as a hostage and took her own life. Takayama Ukon was lord of Takatsuki, held to his forbidden Christian faith and was exiled to Manila. The roughly 100 windows of the cathedral are stained glass showing the lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, and the pipe organ has 2,400 pipes.

Translated and shortened from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).