Holy Triad Temple

This ornate little joss house, the Chung Tian Temple was built in 1886 for Brisbane’s burgeoning Cantonese community, is tucked away in the back streets of Breakfast Creek and is one of only three left in Queensland from the numerous ones that were built in the late 1800’s.

The site was chosen as a focus for the five clans of Cantonese folk who ran small businesses in Fortitude Valley and farmed the flats of Eagle Farm and Breakfast Creek with their market gardens. In fact by 1888 almost the entire supply of fruit and vegetables in Brisbane was provided by Chinese market gardens.

The splendid intricate triple roof of the temple was imported from China by a leading local Chinese trading firm and the temple itself built by Cantonese artisans.

The interior is worth a look too - divided into three sections entrance, middle section and the temple proper it’s beautifully decorated with silks, lanterns, carved timber and embroidered cloth.