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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter 

A CHAPEL literally hidden in the dark corridors of Victoria Falls Hotel is little known yet an outstanding tourist attraction.

Many couples have exchanged their vows at the chapel while some funeral and memorial services have been conducted there over generations. 

The chapel is an untapped tourism gem as its existence is synonymous to the growth of Victoria Falls City.

Some tourists who prefer to meditate on the sidelines of their leisure and business trips, book with Victoria Falls’ oldest hotel facility to access the chapel.

It is the only hotel with such a facility which has over the years been a part of packages sold to clients when marketing Victoria Falls as a destination and the hotel in particular.

Victoria Falls Hotel was built in 1905 following the 1904 arrival of the railway line in what is now Zimbabwe’s prime tourism capital.

The hotel is synonymous with the history of Victoria Falls.

Initially the railway line passed through where the hotel is located today while a flagpole that stands today between the hotel and gorge facing the iconic Victoria Falls Bridge, used to be the site of a police station.

Both the police station and railway line were moved after floods washed away the railway line in 1909 but the hotel remained behind and expanded on the same land.

While guests, both local and international enjoy the magnificent and captivating view of the gorge from the flagpole at the back of the hotel, there is a gem inside the building which some people have specifically visited in Victoria Falls. 

The hotel was once a residence for railway workers and since missionaries were always journeying with workers, they were offered a place to do their services and provide pastoral and sacramental support to employees and passengers.

In 1932 the chapel was consecrated as a holy chapel that remains to date.

It became the Anglican Church’s first place of worship in Victoria Falls before a second church of resurrection was built in the 1970 in Chinotimba.

The Chinotimba church celebrated 90 years last Sunday.

What makes the chapel unique is that a majority of couples that exchanged vows in Victoria Falls before independence married in the chapel, and some still prefer to get the venue.

Even funeral and memorial services have been conducted at the chapel.

The chapel is fully furnished like other church buildings and places of worship.

It has an altar, cross, a tabernacle, religious wall pictures and chairs properly arranged as well a place set for meditation.

It is usually locked to protect it as a sacred place and is open upon request from guests or on Sundays when services are conducted especially by Anglican Church members.

Besides its value as a religious place, the chapel is well a sought-after attraction as tourists want it for quieter moments.

Victoria Falls Hotel general manager Mr Farai Chimba said the chapel is a hidden treasure.

“The chapel is used each Sunday for morning church services. It still remains a venue for weddings and a place for quiet moments for some travellers. 

“The chapel is a special feature of the hotel and its history which shaped up the town of Victoria Falls and our relationship with the National Railways of Zimbabwe and church is enshrined in a dream vision and faith making it a special union that makes it unique hotel,” said Mr Chimba.

He said the chapel is advertised together with the hotel on information guides. 

“While (some) will know about it, it remains a hidden gem to many others as they wander around the corridors at the hotel,” said Mr Chimba.

 To locals in Victoria Falls, the chapel is unknown as many of those that attended the Anglican Church’s 90th anniversary celebrations recently were shocked to hear of it existence.

The church’s Bishop for Matabeleland Diocese, Cleopas Lunga conducted a service at the chapel last week ahead of the celebrations with mostly the church’s members from the low density suburbs who attend mass there on Sundays.

The hotel was handed Inkanyiso Yomondli (Light of the Steward) award alongside NRZ and two priests for the service rendered to the church.

A news crew caught up with Mrs Patricia Sabra Morrison, born Hodder Andrews in Harare on 20 July 1942 and wedded at the chapel in 1976 when she got married to the late Rowland George, who died last year in April aged 84.

The couple is one of the many that exchanged vows either before a Catholic or Anglican priest in the chapel.

“We came to Victoria Falls in 1945 from Matopo and my father was a township manager for Chinotimba, the oldest suburb in Victoria Falls.  We were Anglican and worshipped at the chapel which is where my husband and I took our vows before a Catholic priest Fr Thomas,” she said.

She said at the time no Catholic church had been built in Victoria Falls and most of the weddings were conducted by the Anglican Church although priests from the Catholic Church would solemnise some of them.

Mrs Morrison said she still remembers the happier moments on her wedding day as they ended up completing proceedings in an adjoining conference room because the crowd could not fit in the chapel.

When the Catholic Church built its first Our Lady parish in Victoria Falls residents started going there for weddings and funeral services because it was bigger than the Victoria Falls Hotel chapel.

She however, lowers her voice stating that all her three friends who were in the bridal team died of cancer.

Her father Howard Andrews died in  November 1981 just after his birthday and his funeral service was conducted in the chapel.

Another couple Mr Stuart Kenneth Danks and wife Susan Chenaux-Repond exchanged their vows at the chapel in 2004.

“We were living in Victoria Falls and wanted a small wedding with friends and family and the chapel was the perfect venue,” said Mr Danks. — @ncubeleon