The St. Yage Church
The St. Yage Church on the Riverside Road is a historic building in Yichang. Covering an area of 500 square meters, the church can accommodate 1,500 people to pray at the same time.
When Yichang was forced to open to the foreign trade in 1867according to the Yantai Treaty, many foreign religious organizations came to the city to build churches and introduce their beliefs. In 1895, the US Protestant Episcopal Church rebuilt the St. Yage Church in a former private house. Since its completion, the liturgies have never stopped until the Cultural Revolutionary period. In September 1984, the liturgies restarted. Along with the development of the church, the number of Christians in Yichang has increased to several thousand from the original some 10 people.
The church was expended and rebuilt in February 1999 because the facilities in the old church were too limited.
