Dongjiaomin Alley Catholic Church is more commonly known as St. Michael’s Church. It was built in 1901 within the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Qing Dynasty. Dongjiaomin Alley used to be a famous gathering area for foreigners during Qing Dynasty as most of the embassies were situated here, that’s why it was selected as the best location for the construction of the church. It was built especially for the convenience of foreigners who residing here on the first place.
The whole architecture of the building displays a typical Gothic style with three main peaked spires and several spire ornaments beautifully complimenting each other. Besides that, it is wells known for its beautiful stained glass windows as well. The church served firstly as the place of Christian worship for the French community of Beijing before 1949. Anyway, the church was closed in 1958 and did not reopen again until 1989.