St John in the Wilderness Church - Nainital District, Uttarakhand, India - Church in Nainital - Kumaon, India

The St. John in the Wilderness Church is just 2 km away from the Nainital Mall Road. You can easily walk to the church or hire a cycle rickshaw or auto rickshaw to reach here. The calmness of this church attracts a lot of followers who seek peace and tranquillity in life. The beautiful architecture of St. John in the Wilderness Church is commendable and holds its heritage of earlier times. The St. John in the Wilderness Church shares the similarity of its architecture and name with a church in North California which is among the most followed churches in the country.

Like its namesake in Dharamshala, this church stands in the midst of a grove of deodar trees. Also, like the Dharamshala church, this is an old one - it dates back to 1844 and is still in use, being part of the Church of North India. We visited on a Sunday morning, around 10 AM. The church was closed and there was nobody around to let us in so that we could have a look. Church service is (according to a sign outside) at 4 PM on Sundays; we could not come back for this, so contented ourselves with looking at the church from the outside. It's a beautiful and atmospheric old building, with stained glass in a rose window, behind the altar, and along the sides. It seems, at least on the outside, to be poorly maintained, with peeling paint, overgrown with weeds, and with quite a lot of garbage - plastic wrappers and similar rubbish - strewn nearby. A pity.

This is a old church building in nanital.First view is very pleasant and some old style bollywood movie seen church. All side cover with trees ancient vibes you feel.Walking distance from nani lake

Beautiful place... very peaceful and calm place Such a vibration of positive energy... Its very oldest church in the town .

Not open, can't get in. but still a beautiful building and a nice place to take pictures. The church itself is really old and nice should visit if you are into old architecture or heritage buildings.

It's a beautiful piece of architecture. Although it remains close for most of the hours and for most of the days. It is the oldest church of nainital and surrounded by serene greenary.

St. John in the wilderness is an Anglican church in India and is one of the oldest buildings in Nainital. The site was chosen and approved in 1844 by Bishop Daniel Wilson. The corner stone was laid in October 1846 and the plans were made by Captain Young at the cost of Rs 15,000 raised from private subscriptions and pew rents. Built in a Gothic style, it was inaugurated on 2 April 1848. A memorial in the church is to those killed in the 1880 landslip. The cemetery in the church has graves from 1845 to around 1922 with the last burial being of Sir George Knox. The graves include those of the mother and father of Jim Corbett.

One of the gothic colonial architecture marvel, built in the late 19th century. Still standing in the wilderness of nanital. You wouldn't feel like you're in the city centre. Now it's abonded. A must visit for architecture lovers.