About Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral of St David
Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Archdiocese of Cardiff and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cardiff. Built by Pugin & Pugin in 1884-87, the Cathedral replaced Cardiff’s first Catholic church, built in 1842, after an increase in the city’s Catholic population. In 1916 it became the Cathedral of Cardiff Archdiocese and the Metropolitan Cathedral for Wales.
The Cathedral was extensively damaged by an incendiary bomb dropped during the Cardiff Blitz on the 3rd of March 1941, later being restored between 1952 and 1959 by Bates, Son & Price. Although the Pennant sandstone and Early English style gives the exterior a dark aspect, a tranquil atmosphere can be found within, a welcome escape from the busyness of central Cardiff.
Visitors can find a striking statue of St John the Baptist, carved by Sir William Goscombe John in 1895 - a replica of which is at the National Museum of Wales.
A statue to each of the two Cardiff martyrs – St Philip Evans and St John Lloyd – reside in their own chapel.
The Cathedral is typically open from 08:30 to 18:00 during the week and from 09:00 until 18:30 on the weekends. Daily Mass is offered at 12:45 during the week and at 10:00 on Saturday morning; a Choral Mass is usually offered at 11:00 on Sunday morning with a quieter Mass at 17:30 on Saturday and Sunday evenings respectively.
