Cathedral of Immaculate Conception

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located at the eastern end of the Brian Lara Promenade, is among Trinidad and Tobago’s oldest churches. Built in 1781 during the Spanish colonial era, its original wooden structure in Tamarind Square could hold 500 parishioners. After a fire in 1808, Governor Sir Ralph Woodford commissioned its reconstruction as a cathedral by British architect Philip Reinagle. The foundation stone was laid in 1816, and the cathedral was completed in 1851. Shaped like a Latin Cross, it features chapels for Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph. Its limestone walls came from Laventille Hills, but earthquake damage in 1825 led to wooden replacements for the bell towers. In 1857, Pope Pius IX elevated it to a Minor Basilica, making it the diocese’s principal church.