おらしょ こころ旅

Registered asset

Nagasaki

Former Shitsu Aid Centre

  • Former Shitsu Aid Centre opened in 2013 after 5 years of conservation and repair work.
  • Nuns, as well as women aged from 14-20, lived together here and learned from Father de Rotz.
  • The aid centre was formerly referred to as “St. Joseph’s workroom”, and is a two-storey building made of wood and stone. In the first floor workshop, things such as bread, sōmen and soy sauce were made. On the second floor there was a textiles workshop, as well as a room where morning and evening, the women lead their life of faith. The French-made wall clock on the second floor chimes at 15 minute intervals.
  • On this site, four buildings from that time remain, as well as stone walls.

Related persons and terms（By hovering your mouse pointer over an item, explanation of the item are displayed.）

Plaster

［Plaster］ Stucco is a building material used for bonding tiles and stones, filling in joints, and painting over walls, and is applied to the surfaces of the Oura Cathedral and Shitsu Church.

Discovery of Hidden Christians

［Discovery of Hidden Christians］ The Discovery of Hidden Christians is an event in which several Senpuku Kirishitans (hidden Christians) in Urakami confessed their faith to a priest for the first time in about 250 years, in 1865, even when the ban on Christianity had not yet been lifted. This historical event happened at the Oura Cathedral built in the foreign settlement of Nagasaki.

Marc Marie de Rotz

［Marc Marie de Rotz］ Marc Marie de Rotz, a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, landed at Nagasaki as a diocesan bishop in 1868. After printing doctrinal books using lithography at Oura Cathedral, he was assigned as the parish priest of the Sotome area in 1879 and engaged in various welfare activities, including establishing an aid center. He also had a profound knowledge of architecture and was involved in the construction of Shitsu Church and Ono Church.

Biography & Glossary >>

Map and access

View map here

Articles related to this asset

  • Nagasaki

    A priest warmly loved by his flock

    Father de Rotz, who gave himself wholeheartedly to relief work in Sotome, is still referred to affectionately by the local people as "Doro-sama".

  • Nagasaki

    A variety of local produce

    Father de Rotz, together with the local people, grew wheat which was used to make a variety of produce

  • Nagasaki

    A 130-year-old organ

    The old organ on the 2nd floor of Former Shitsu Aid centre was sent away for from France by Father de Rotz. Nowadays, Shitsu's nuns sometimes play the organ for visitors.

  • Nagasaki

    外海散策の途中にド・ロさまグルメ

    ド・ロさま畑で採れた野菜やお茶を味わえる「ヴォスロール」。ド・ロさま小麦で作るパンも美味しい！

  • Nagasaki

    Father de Rotz's numerous activities

    When Father de Rotz was appointed to Sotome, he was shocked by how poor its inhabitants were. He gave the whole of the fortune which he acquired through inheriting his parent's house to Sotome.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    A church like a castle, facing out to sea

    A church which sits on high ground on a deserted island. It was the first brick church to be made by the carpenter Tetsukawa Yosuke, and it contains some beautiful donated ornaments which have very fine detail.

Top