Background Summary

The Church is a memorial to all who died for the development of Zimbabwe and Zambia during the construction of the Kariba Dam. The Circular form represents a ‘’Coffer – dam’’, an auxiliary dam to the main dam. Above the Church entrance an inscription reads: ‘’Impresit and the Italian artisans have dedicated this Church to the memory of all who died at Kariba and to the honour of St. Barbara, St. Mary and St. Joseph, 1958’’. Inside, on the memorial stone are written the names of all who died – altogether 86 of them. On February 1959, 18 men fell into the fresh concrete of the dam; 14 bodies could be removed, and were buried, either in Kariba Cemetery or in Italy and the other 4 had to be left, the dam itself became their grave. The Latin inscription on the memorial stone means: ‘’These men fell in the battle for building the dam at Kariba’’. In these words one can still hear something of the roaring and thundering of that time at this otherwise so quiet spot on the Zambezi. The dam was built under the chairmanship of Sir Duncan Law Anderson, whose plaque is seen at the right side of the memorial stone and whose ashes were buried in 1980, the lake which he created. Impresit, the building Firm, came from Milan [Italy]. Pope Paul V1, formerly the Archbishop of Milan gave the tabernacle on the Alter as a special gift to this Church in 1964. On the tabernacle door is shown, in metal and ivory, the Last Supper scene. Further adorning the Church, we see at the right a copy of the famous statue by Donatello of St. George, the patron saint of England, and to the left St. Catherine of Siena, the patron saint of Italy: thus representing the involvement of both the Federal Government of Rhodesia and Nyasaland [then under British rule], and the Italian Firm in the construction of the dam. The workmen are represented by St. Joseph, the holy carpenter [left] and the engineers by St. Barbara, their special patron saint [right], who gave the Church its name. The big statue of ‘’Our Lady’’ – especially dear to the Italian Artisans – is a sign of love due to the Mother of Christ by every Christian. All these statues within the Church were made at the famous Charara quarry from where Michelangelo also took his marble. The only wooden piece is the Crucifix in the middle background, carved by contemporary Italian Artist. Also from Italy came the stained glass windows with the words of ‘’Our Father’’, and the ‘’Way of the Cross’’ in bronze. Now every Sunday in this Church the sacrifice of Christ is offered for the living and the dead, especially for those whom this Church is dedicated.

Stations

1. St. Barbara
2. St. Mary’s
3. St. Augustine