Located in Xujiahui district in the southwest of the city, Cathedral of St. Ignatius is the largest Catholic church in Shanghai, which has room for 2,500 people at any given service. A Roman-style chapel was first laid out in 1847 in memory of the founder of the Jesuit order. Later when the Xujiahui district flourished, French Jesuits expanded the chapel to the present scale.

In the style of French Gothic architecture, the church has outer walls laid with red bricks, and pointed arch windows and doors. With spacious and grand interior, it holds totally nineteen altars, each of which is decorated with sculptures and ornaments mostly of marble. Two flanking bell towers stands around 50 meters high. The cathedral is where Catholics in Shanghai attend Mass and many adherents hold their weddings