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The Emmaus Moravian Church and Manse
Photo courtesy of William Lomax |
The Emmaus Moravian Church and Manse are significant as examples of
the Moravian architectural style. The Moravians were the first Protestants
to send missionaries to the West Indies and were in the Danish Islands
as early as 1732. They were the only church allowed to minister to the
slaves, and were instrumental in establishing Dutch Creole as the language
spoken between planters and the enslaved Africans. The Manse is the older of
the two buildings. Constructed in 1750, the rectangle shaped building,
constructed of rubble masonry with stucco, contains flat-headed window
and door openings. The one-story church, originally built in 1782, holds
a belfry attached to the west end, in the form of two tiers of square
blocks, capped by a pyramidal roof. Both tiers have open arches on the
exposed sides and the bell is contained in the upper tier. The masonry
foundation is constructed of rubble, ballast brick and native brain
coral set in a lime mortar and stuccoed. The land now containing the
compound of Moravian buildings originally belonged to Governor Suhm
of the Danish West India and Guinea Company in 1717. Acquired by Governor
Thomas de Malleville in 1782, the property was given to the Moravians
after de Malleville's religious conversion by a free black, Brother
Cornelius, who had become a church missionary. Cornelius was a master mason who built at least six Moravian churches.
The Emmaus Moravian Church and Manse are located in the town of Coral
Bay, on the island of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. A cemetery dating to the 18th century
is associated with the church and is located 200 feet to the east of
it. Visitors are welcome to attend services at 9:00am on Sundays, the building is closed at other times.
For further information, call 340-776-6713.
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