Cesar Castellani: Our most prolific nineteenth century architect

Cesar Castellani: Our most prolific nineteenth century architect By Lennox Hernandez, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, University of Guyana, for the National Trust of Guyana
Guyana Chronicle
February 5, 2006

*Related Links:*	Articles on our heritage
Letters Menu	Archival Menu

CESAR Castellani, after whom Castellani House on Vlissengen Road has been named, was the most prolific of out 19th century architects. He came to British Guiana in 1860 with a group of Italian priests, as a Lay Brother for the Jesuits, and was responsible for a variety of architectural works for the Catholic Church. Following his release from the Jesuits in 1872, Castellani turned fully to architecture. In 1873, he married a Guianese, at Sacred Heart Church, and later became choirmaster and organist there. He lived at Lot 64 Middle Street – we believe that the house he lived in still stands. Cesar Castellani died in Georgetown on August 2, 1905.
Castellani was educated in Italy. He was an accomplished architect; his works showing solid professional training and familiarity with contemporary European architecture and architectural writings. Whilst the majority of his works can be found in Georgetown, he also designed the Public Hospital in New Amsterdam. Possibly his earliest building and one for which he received much praise, was St. Mary’s Cathedral (Brickdam) opened in 1868 and destroyed by fire in 1913. This building was described in 1872 as “the finest ecclesiastical building in the West Indies”. The design was of the European Gothic style prevalent during that century, the building possessing a wonderfully intricate steeple and very decorative windows. Another of his early projects was the Girls’ Orphanage building in the compound of St. Joseph’s Ursuline Convent, Camp Street, opened in November 1869.
In 1872, Castellani was granted leave from the Jesuits and joined the staff of the Public Works Department under Baron Hora Siccama, the Colonial Engineer, as a draughtsman. A major project for Castellani was the alterations and additions (1872-1882) to the Sacred Heart Church, Main Street. This wooden building by Fr. Benedict Schembri, was originally much smaller. Castellani added the western entrance and twin towers (Castellani’s original twin towers were squatter and were raised sometime after 1917 to its present height). He also designed the extensions at North, south and east sides again in wood, thus completely enveloping the original structure. During the construction, he was said to have been “unmanageable” and had his contract terminated. Recognising his design capability, however, Fr. Ignatius Scoles, priest/architect, wrote in the prestigious local journal, `Timehri’, in 1885, that the front façade of Sacred Heart Church was “the finest ecclesiastical specimen of the Italian style in Demerara.”
Cesar Castellani’s creativity extended to the interior decoration of his buildings: his delightful treatment of the interior of the Sacred Heart Church, including the beautiful High Altar and tabernacle, and the intricate ceiling of its sacristy, attest to his artistic ability. He became involved in the internal design of other buildings. For example, the 1875 coffered timber ceiling of the Parliament Chambers (reconstructed this year); and the 1882 main bar of the Demerara Ice House, unfortunately replaced in the late 1940s. The bar was based upon the most advanced European café design and was described by one architectural historian as “good as anything in Paris or Berlin.” The style of the decorative ceiling of the dining hall in State House is such that we believe that this too is Castellani’s creation. In 1888, Castellani was engaged on the interior decoration to the sanctuary of the St. Mary’s Cathedral.

The Public Hospital in New Amsterdam, just recently losing its prime function, is another of Castellani’s fine works. Opened in 1885, the hospital was described by the Resident Surgeon, Dr. E.D. Rowland, as being “the model hospital in the Western tropics’ because of the suitability of the design to our warm-humid climate”. One particular building project usually credited to Baron Siccama, the Colonial Engineer, is the 1887 Supreme Law Courts, Georgetown, now the High Court. The architecture of the building, however, suggests very strong inputs from Castellani. In the Caribbean, Castellani designed the Catholic Cathedral in St. Patrick’s, Barbados (1898-1899). This may have been his last project.