Centenary of St Patricks Cathedral. (September 29, 1978)

Re.1/- The main building of St. Patrick’s Cathedral is shown in a sketch form the interior of the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, arches and a stained glass window has been shown in the stamp. The structure that dominates the cul-de-sac of Shahrah-e-Iraq in the Saddar area of Karachi was four years building, 1878-1882. The financial effort for the construction came from the Irish regiment posted here’ at the time and the small community of local Catholics that made up the church of Karachi in the late Victorian era.
The style of this church is typically Gothic, with the Gothic arch running all round as a recurrent theme. The edifice of St. Patrick’s claims direct descent from the strong Gothic tradition that has prevailed in the Rhine Valley of West Germany and Holland ever since the 12th Century. The observer who enters within for the first time will be struck by the sheer massiveness of the pillars, the arches and above all the central vault, which attains a height of 48 feet at its apex.
Rs.2/- The great height of the structure is enlivened by the stained-glass windows of which there are 66 in all. Their magic consists in their transpar-ency to the two-way play of light, shining inwards during day light, and shining outwards after lamp-light.
An outstanding feature of the Cathedral is the chime of its bells, which are perhaps unmatched and certainly not out-classed by any in the sub-continent. The casting of a hell is not merely a matter of technical finish but an art and even more an artistic tradition: And the three beauties in the belfry of St. Patrick’s can be traced to some obscure village in Germany where iron-mongers have made the casting of bells not merely a fine art but a point of honour. The belfries have been so designed as to permit a certain minimum of sound to filter through to the interior of the church while the main bulk of the sound is broadcast in all directions to the outside world.
Pakistan Post Office has issued a set of 2 stamps in Re. 1/- and Rs. 2/- denominations on the occasion of the Centenary of the Cathedral.