A temple, a fortress shul and a lovely church – these buildings reflect the multi-cultural nature of Johannesburg. In this, the sixth in a series of articles, Lucille Davie looks at some of the city's places of worship.

A TIN temple, a fortress-like building in overcrowded and rundown Hillbrow and a lovely church in old Ferreirasdorp are among the many places of worship in the multi-religious city of Johannesburg.

They show how many different cultures made up the early community of the mining town, and how it was tolerant of the varied communities. Each was able to find a space to put up a simple structure, call together their congregants and practise their religion.

Although the 2001 Census indicates that South Africa is still overwhelmingly Christian, at 75 percent, almost every religion is represented and practised in Johannesburg, reflecting the diverse nature of the almost four million people who live in the sprawling metropolis.

This is the sixth in a series of articles on Johannesburg's splendid places of worship.

Temple Israel, Hillbrow, 1936
Temple Israel was built in 1936 in Paul Nel Street in Hillbrow when the suburb still consisted of houses and the Jewish community in the suburb consisted of about 800 worshippers, a few of whom still live there and in neighbouring Berea and Yeoville.

The soaring, fortress-like exterior of Temple Israel, in Art Deco style

Now the size of the congregation is around 30 faithfuls, rising to about 300 on high holy days.

But this doesn't mean the shul isn't close to a lot of people's hearts. Last year it celebrated its 70th anniversary and a booklet was produced with contributions from many old timers. They all write of their fond memories of Temple Israel: being married in the shul, having their barmitzvahs or batmitzvahs in the shul, attending Hebrew lessons or lessons in Judaism.

Benny Stalson, long associated with Temple Israel, says, "The shul is my passion."

The synagogue is the mother shul of the Johannesburg Jewish Reform Congregation. Its building can be traced back to a visit in 1929 by Professor Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, who visited his family in Johannesburg from Cincinnati in the US. He lectured on Jewish music and the principles of Progressive Judaism.

Idelsohn encouraged his brother, Jerry, to establish a Progressive Jewish group in the city. After conducting services in homes in 1930, in June 1931 the South African Jewish Religious Union for Liberal Judaism was established. Jerry contacted Moses Cyrus Weiler, then a student at the Hebrew Union College under Idelsohn.

Once he was ordained, in August 1933, Rabbi Weiler came to Joburg and a progressive congregation was assembled. Their first service was held in the Freemasons' Hall in Clarendon Place, on the edge of Hillbrow.

At the end of 1933 the site, three-quarters of an acre in size, was bought and three years later the shul was officially opened.

It's an impressive, imposing building in a quiet, clean, jacaranda-lined street. It rises up from the pavement in a fortress-like manner, some four storeys into the sky, built in the Art Deco style with its long, vertical lines.

Inside wood panelling and parquet floors greet you in the foyer. Stepping into the synagogue itself your eye is drawn to the striking bimah or altar, with its twin gold columns and menorah-shapes going up the wall, almost hiding a choir loft. A three-sided gallery runs around the main seating area, accommodating not just women, as in an orthodox shul, but both sexes.

The architect was Herman Kallenbach (with partners Kennedy and Furner), who also designed several other striking places of worship around the city: the Greek Orthodox Church in Wolmarans Street and the Dutch Reformed Church in Fairview.

The site houses a pre-school for local children. It falls under the Ma Afrika Tikkun programme, an initiative started to help the disadvantaged. One of its current programmes is to run a soccer team for street children. The shul has another outreach project - the MC Weiler School in Alexandra. It was started in 1944 by the women of Temple Israel, in the belief that being a Jew involved not only helping fellow Jews but also those around you who needed help.

Despite the deteriorating conditions of Hillbrow, the community continues undaunted. Reeva Foreman, the chairman of the temple, wrote in the 70th anniversary publication: "Temple Israel has operated in a difficult environment – one which has not improved over the last year.

"We're working with property developers, all inner city agencies and the City council to make this area home to a vibrant community. If we succeed, we'll be part of a fine Jewish contribution. There are many other Jewish and non-Jewish initiatives in Hillbrow, not only ours, and Hillbrow needs these and more."

Temple Israel is a Mitzvah synagogue, meaning "good deeds", reaching out to both Jew and non-Jew alike.

The Jewish reform movement traces its roots to the Age of Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. During this time Europe became more tolerant of Jews who, until then, had been confined to ghettos. Jews were able to move out of the ghettos and, although there were still restrictions on them, they lived as close as possible to the normal life of their fellow Europeans.

It established itself in South Africa when Eastern Europeans migrated to the country in the 1930s, fleeing the pogroms in their homelands. The reform movement is less strict about traditional Jewish beliefs; for example, it allows equality for women, is less fussy about kosher food and is tolerant of gay rights.

In 1983 the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, planted a bomb outside the synagogue in an attempt to prevent the then president, Marais Viljoen, from attending the temple's 50th anniversary. No one was injured, however, and Viljoen attended the celebration.

In Joburg there are only three reform congregations: Temple Israel, Temple Emmanuel in Oxford Road, and Temple Bet David in Sandton. There are nine congregations in South Africa which trace their roots back to Temple Israel. In recent decades many reform Jews have left South Africa.

The City is proposing that the temple becomes a provincial heritage site.

St Alban's Anglican Mission Church, Ferreirasdorp, 1928
This beautiful church, on the neglected western edge of the inner city, cuts a lonely, incongruous picture - until you realise that Ferreirasdorp was one of the first mining camps in the tent town that sprung up after gold was discovered in 1886.

The striking red-brick St Alban's Church, standing firm on the edge of the CBD

The site was first demarcated for the coloured Anglican community in 1898 with a wood and iron building. This was replaced by a solid red brick structure in 1928, which still stands tall and striking almost 80 years later. But now it is surrounded by warehouses and light industrial buildings.

It was designed by architect Frank Fleming, one-time partner to respected architect Herbert Baker. Fleming also designed the Christ the King Anglican Church in Sophiatown.

The finely laid red brick on the outside of the building continues into the church, perfectly offsetting the wooden floors and high, wood-lined ceiling. The altar, often ornate and elaborate in Anglican churches, is simple and elegant. It is distinguished from the rest of the interior by a tall bridge structure, dominated by a suspended carved, full-size Christ on the cross. Mary and Joseph are placed on either side, looking down on the congregation.

Down the north side of the church is a row of tall, arched, leaded windows, which allow the afternoon sun to illuminate the sparse rows of plastic chairs – the original wooden benches were removed to St Mary's Cathedral some time ago.

The southern side has small lead-glass windows, not visible from inside because a series of offices have been built along that side - enclosing the windows but not distracting from the simple beauty of the interior. The walls are bare of ornamentation, lending extra significance to the three suspended figures.

Father John Ntsoko, who has conducted Sunday services at the church since last year, says the congregation – about 120-strong – consists mainly of domestic workers from the CBD, Midrand, Alberton and Soweto. He describes his weekly service as "vibrant and lively".

In 1958 the Anglican diocese was stationed here, under bishops Desmond Tutu and Duncan Buchanan.

This side of town was traditionally the home of the coloured community. In the same year as the church opened, a Coloured Girls' Hostel opened in Ferreirasdorp, according to Naomi and Reuben Musiker in A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg.

In the 1960s the community was moved, in the name of apartheid. But, like the vacant plots of District Six in Cape Town, a large area of veld remains, scattered with gum trees.

The City plans to recommend that St Alban's becomes a provincial heritage site.

Johannesburg Melrose Shree Siva Subramaniar Temple, Abbotsford, 1996
The origins of the Melrose temple reach as far back as 1899, when Tamil Hindus working as washermen in the Melrose Steam Laundry built a wood and iron temple near the laundry. The laundry was established in 1897 in the present Melrose Bird Sanctuary, near the Jukskei River.

Reginald Linaker, the laundry's owner, gave the land on which the temple was built to the small community. He was described by Thillayvel Naidoo in The Temple at Melrose as "a philanthropist of well-meaning habits", and one of the "few white businessmen who showed genuine sympathy for the local Indian people and their plight as second-class citizens".

The first Melrose Shree Siva Subramaniar Temple, a wood and iron structure with a single dome

At the time it was part of the farm Syferfontein. After Linaker was declared insolvent the land changed hands several times. In 1926 the temple and land were put on auction; when several businessmen were about to bid for the property, members of the Tamil Benefit Society "resorted to a desperate display of emotionalism", Naidoo says.

As the auctioneer was about to conclude the sale, these members said they could not demolish the temple, but anyone who did would face the "wrath and curse of our gods", who would be a presence in all future business dealings and any structures built on the site.

Naidoo quotes Vythalingam Chetty, long a worshipper at the temple, as saying: "I can't tell you the effect this had on the people present. Immediately all prospective buyers became so cautious about negotiating a purchase that the very gloom and anxiety cast over the auction saved for us our beloved shrine, and the day itself proved a red letter day for us as a community."

The auctioneer then asked how much they were willing to pay for the land, which was rightfully theirs. They replied that they would offer a nominal amount as a token gesture - it's believed that amount was £1.

Ownership did not pass automatically to the Tamil community, however. A white nominee had to become the "legal owner" of the property, to conform to government policy at the time. This person was Charles Henry Kemsley, a lawyer.

This simple structure served the community for 97 years, until 1996. According to the chairman of the Melrose temple, Gopal Padayichie, the old structure was decaying, and had to be replaced. At times over the years the river, about 20 metres from the temple, rose to its steps.

The original building consisted of a simple A-framed structure, with a four-sided dome protruding from behind the A-frame. There was a brick veranda around three sides of the structure. The temple originally had wooden window frames with shutters and, at some time in its history, the iron exterior walls were painted white. A single row of outbuildings, possibly built in the 1930s or '40s, nestled behind the temple. They are still there.

Two large palms in front the temple, probably planted soon after the original building went up, were removed in 1996. Their root systems were affecting the building, making it lean to one side, Padayichie says.

The old temple used to accommodate about 50 people, and Padayichie says his father used to go for prayers in a horse and cart. "The tranquillity was unbelievable in those days."

The new temple was opened in 1996, with some 50 000 people attending the opening over 40 days. The new building accommodates 400 people standing, and worshippers come from Lenasia and northern suburbs like Midrand and Sandton, but also from as far afield as Pretoria.

It is a neat, rectangular building, finished in face brick, with white plastered edgings and a red metal roof. There are three cone-shaped structures protruding from the back of the temple roof and a new metal veranda covering has been added around the front of the building. Also on the 21 000m² site along the river is a small shrine with an onion-shaped rust red roof.

Four doors – two in the front, one on each side – open into a small hall with a small row of windows high up on the walls. The tiled floor has four large carpets arranged on it, facing the deities at the altar. The smell of incense fills the quiet, peaceful space.

The temple has 350 regular worshippers, swelling to 6 000 on holy days. Padayichie says there are about 600 000 Tamil Hindus nationwide.

At the time of the original temple's demolition, the then National Monuments Council wanted to declare it a national monument as it was believed to be the oldest Hindu temple in the old Transvaal. But the move was strenuously rejected by the Hindu community. Flo Bird, a fierce campaigner for retaining heritage buildings, was on the council at the time. She considers the loss of the original temple as one of her failures while sitting on the council.

It remains a quiet retreat for Hindus within the plush surrounds of Melrose and Abbotsford.

Places of worship

• Temple Israel, Hillbrow, 1936
• St Alban's Anglican Mission Church, Ferreirasdorp, 1928
• Johannesburg Melrose Shree Siva Subramaniar Temple, Abbotsford, 1996
• Coptic Orthodox Church, Parkview, 1999
• ZCC Church, Alexandra
• Dutch Reformed Church, Fairview, 1906
• Mosque, Kerk Street, mid-1990s
• Church of Latter Day Saints, Parktown 1985
• Grace Bible Church, Pimville, 2002
• Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon, Woodmead, 1991
• Greek Orthodox Church, Hillbrow, 1912
• Dutch Reformed Church, Cottesloe, 1935
• Christ the King Anglican Church, Sophiatown, 1935
• St Mary's Cathedral, inner city, 1929
• Swaminarayan Mandir, Lenasia, 2004
• St Mary's the Less, Jeppestown, 1889
• Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Soweto, 1964
• The Lions Shul, Doornfontein, 1906
• Mosques, Vrededorp, 1930s
• St Anthony's, Crown Mines, 1976
• St Peter's Priory, Rosettenville, 1903