Baltimore Basilica | |
---|---|
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | |
"America's First Cathedral" [lower-alpha 1] | |
The Basilica in 2006 | |
Location | 409 Cathedral St. Baltimore, Maryland |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
Website | americasfirstcathedral |
History | |
Status | Co-cathedral, Minor basilica, National shrine, Parish church |
Dedication | Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Consecrated | May 31, 1821 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | NRHP |
Designated | October 1, 1969 |
Style | Neoclassical |
Years built | 1806–1821 2006 (restoration/renovation) |
Specifications | |
Number of domes | 1 |
Number of spires | 2 |
Bells | 2 (1831 [1] ) |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | Baltimore |
Province | Baltimore |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | William E. Lori |
Rector | Rev. James Boric |
Deacon(s) | Robert M. Shephard |
Old Roman Catholic Cathedral | |
Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
Coordinates | 39°17′39.81″N76°36′58.18″W / 39.2943917°N 76.6161611°W Coordinates: 39°17′39.81″N76°36′58.18″W / 39.2943917°N 76.6161611°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1806-1821 |
Architect | Benjamin H. Latrobe |
Architectural style | Neoclassical |
NRHP reference No. | 69000330 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 1, 1969 [2] |
Designated NHL | November 11, 1971 [3] |
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and was among the first major religious buildings constructed in the nation after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. As a co-cathedral, it is one of the seats of the Catholic Archdiocese in Baltimore, Maryland. Additionally it is a parish church (ranked minor basilica) and national shrine. It is considered the masterpiece of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the "Father of American Architecture".
The Basilica was constructed between 1806 and 1863 to a design of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America's first professionally trained architect and Thomas Jefferson's Architect of the U.S. Capitol. [4] [5] It was built under the guidance of the first American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, John Carroll. The Basilica was blessed and opened for use on May 31, 1821, by the third Archbishop of Baltimore, Ambrose Maréchal. [6] It was consecrated on May 25, 1876, by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley. [5]
Many famous events have occurred within its walls, including the funeral Mass of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Carroll had been the last of the surviving signers. Most of the first American bishops were consecrated here to fill the ever-multiplying dioceses necessitated by the young country's territorial expansion and great waves of immigration. Until recent years, more priests were ordained at the Baltimore Basilica than in any other church in the United States.
The building hosted many of the 19th century meetings that shaped the Catholic Church in America, including seven Provincial Councils and three Plenary Councils. [5] Among other effects, these led to the founding of The Catholic University of America and efforts to evangelize African and Native Americans to Catholicism. The Third Plenary Council, which was the largest meeting of Catholic bishops held outside Rome since the Council of Trent, commissioned the Baltimore Catechism.
In 1937, Pope Pius XI raised the cathedral to the rank of Minor Basilica. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and two years later was declared a National Historic Landmark. [2] [3] In 1993, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the Basilica as a National Shrine.
The Cathedral Hill Historic District takes its name from the Basilica's location. [7]
Many people deemed holy by the Catholic Church are associated with the Basilica, including the Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first order for Catholic nuns of African-American descent; [5] the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, who was ordained at the Basilica in 1877 by Archbishop James Gibbons; and St. John Neumann, who is credited with founding America's Catholic school system.
The Basilica has welcomed millions of visitors, including Pope John Paul II in 1995, Mother Teresa in 1996, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in 1997. The building has also been visited by at least 20 other saints or potential saints.
The cathedral is a monumental neoclassical-style building designed in conformity to a Latin cross basilica plan — a departure on Latrobe's part from previous American church architecture, but in keeping with longstanding European traditions of cathedral design. The plan unites two distinct elements: a longitudinal axis and a domed space.
The main façade is a classical Greek portico with Ionic columns arranged in double hexastyle pattern, immediately behind which rise a pair of cylindrical towers. Architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock believed that the onion-shaped domes atop the two towers were “not of Latrobe's design,” but now it is believed that they "were entirely the architect's own." [8] The exterior walls are constructed of silver-gray gneiss quarried from the Ellicott City Granodiorite. [9]
Latrobe originally planned a masonry dome with a lantern on top, but his friend Thomas Jefferson suggested a wooden double-shell dome (of a type pioneered by French master builder Philibert Delorme) with 24 half-visible skylights. [10] For the inner dome Latrobe created a solid, classically detailed masonry hemisphere. Grids of plaster rosettes adorn its coffered ceiling.
The interior is occupied by a massive dome at the crossing of the Latin cross plan, creating a centralizing effect which contrasts the exterior impression of a linear or oblong building. Surrounding the main dome is a sophisticated system of barrel vaults and shallow, saucer-like secondary domes. The light-filled interior designed by Latrobe was striking in contrast to the dark, cavernous recesses of traditional Gothic cathedrals.
The Basilica houses many precious works of art, including two heroic portraits: the first entitled Descent from the Cross by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin and the second, by Baron Charles de Steuben, depicts Louis IX of France burying his plague-stricken troops before the siege of Tunis at the beginning of the Eighth Crusade in 1270. Both portraits were gifts of King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the 1821 opening of the Basilica.
A 32-month, $34 million restoration project was completed in 2006. The restoration included a total incorporation of modern systems throughout the building, while also restoring the interior to Latrobe's original design. Many "misguided accretions" were corrected. [8] The original wall colors (pale yellow, blue, and rose) were restored, as was the light-colored marble flooring which for decades had been a dark green color. Twenty-four skylights in the main dome were re-opened, and the stained glass windows (installed in the 1940s) were given to St. Louis parish in Clarksville (whose new church was designed around them) and replaced with clear glass windows. [11] [12]
Additionally, the Basilica's crypt was made accessible to the public, as well as the expansive masonry undercroft (basement) of the church. The undercroft, until 2006, had been filled with sand from the original building of the cathedral, which prevented Carroll and Latrobe's vision of a Chapel in the undercroft. During the restoration, the tons of sand were removed, and the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel was finally realized.
Cardinal William Keeler, then Archbishop of Baltimore, and one of the many champions of the restoration project, completed the restoration without dipping into the coffers of the Archdiocese, instead using private funds donated for the sole purpose of the restoration. The Basilica was closed to the public from November 2004 through November 2006, reopening in time for the Basilica's Bicentennial and the biannual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which was held in Baltimore to mark the occasion.
On August 23, 2011, an earthquake that jolted the East Coast from Georgia to Quebec rattled through the Basilica, sending nearly 1,000 linear feet of cracks through its ceilings and walls. A seven-month, $3 million restoration was completed on Easter Sunday 2012. [13]
Nine of the fourteen deceased Archbishops of Baltimore have been laid to rest in the Basilica's historic crypt. The crypt is located beneath the main altar, next to the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel, and is accessible to the public. Resting in the crypt are:
The Basilica of the Assumption was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 1969, [2] and was made a National Historic Landmark in November 1971. [3] It is the centerpiece of the Cathedral Hill Historic District. The basilica is within Baltimore National Heritage Area. [14]
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore is the premier see of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and 9 of Maryland's 23 counties in the central and western portions of the state: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington. The archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the larger regional Ecclesiastical Province of Baltimore. The Archdiocese of Washington was originally part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, also known as the Saint Louis Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Completed in 1914, it is the mother church of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the seat of its archbishop, currently Mitchell T. Rozanski. The cathedral is named for Saint Louis and was designated a basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located in Washington, D.C., United States, on 400 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC 20017, near the Catholic University of America.
The Cathedral of Saint Paul is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; the Co-Cathedral is the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. One of the most distinctive cathedrals in the United States, it sits on Cathedral Hill overlooking downtown St. Paul and features a distinctive copper-clad dome. It is dedicated to Paul the Apostle, who is also the namesake of the City of St. Paul. The current building opened in 1915 as the fourth cathedral of the archdiocese to bear this name. On March 25, 2009, it was designated as the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican. It is the third-largest Catholic cathedral and sixth-largest church in the United States.
William Henry Keeler was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1989 to 2007 and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1994. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg. Keeler was President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1992 to 1995.
The Basilica of Saint Mary is a Roman Catholic minor basilica located on its own city block along Hennepin Avenue between 16th & 17th Streets in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the first basilica established in the United States. The Basilica of Saint Mary is the co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the District of Columbia and Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and Saint Mary's counties in the state of Maryland. It was originally part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Cathedral of the Assumption is a cathedral and mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D., the fourth Archbishop of Louisville, is in residence at the Cathedral. The Very Rev. Martin A. Linebach, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Louisville, also serves as Rector.
The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located at 5200 North Charles Street, in northern Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The structure, remarkable in size, was completed in 1959.
The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia. It was built between 1846 and 1864, and was designed by Napoleon LeBrun, from original plans by the Reverend Mariano Muller and the Reverend John B. Tornatore, with the dome and Palladian facade, designed by John Notman, added after 1850. The interior was largely decorated by Constantino Brumidi.
William Donald Borders was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the 13th Archbishop of Baltimore from 1974 to 1989, having previously served as the first Bishop of Orlando from 1968 to 1974.
Ambrose Maréchal, P.S.S. was an American Sulpician and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. He dedicated the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oldest cathedral in the United States, in Baltimore in 1821.
St. Peter the Apostle Church was a Roman Catholic church located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. Constructed at the northwest corner of Hollins and South Poppleton Streets and, it was often referred to as "The Mother Church of West Baltimore."
The First Unitarian Church is a historic church and congregation at 12 West Franklin Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Dedicated in 1818, it was the first building erected for Unitarians in the United States. The church is a domed cube with a stucco exterior. The church, originally called the "First Independent Church of Baltimore", is the oldest building continuously used by a Unitarian congregation. The name was changed in 1935 to "The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore " following the merger with the former Second Universalist Church at East Lanvale Street and Guilford Avenue in midtown Baltimore. The American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America (established 1866) representing the two strains of Unitarian Universalism beliefs and philosophies merged as a national denomination named the Unitarian Universalist Association in May 1961.
St. Mary's Seminary Chapel, located at 600 North Paca Street in the Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, is the oldest Neo-Gothic style church in the United States. It was built from 1806 through 1808 by French architect J. Maximilian M. Godefroy for the French Sulpician priests of St. Mary's Seminary. Godefroy claimed that his design was the first Gothic building in America.
John Carroll was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop and archbishop in the United States. He served as the ordinary of the first diocese and later Archdiocese of Baltimore, in Maryland, which at first encompassed all of the United States and later after division as the eastern half of the new nation.
The Catholic Review is Maryland's largest paid weekly newspaper, distributed by mail. The Review covers national and international news of interest to Catholics and serves as the newspaper of record for the archdiocese of Baltimore. The Review is the successor to the original diocesan newspaper The Catholic Mirror which was published until 1908. After an interval of five and a half years, under James Cardinal Gibbons, then Archbishop of Baltimore, the Baltimore Catholic Review was initiated and later renamed with the shorter title of The Catholic Review.
Baltimore College was a secular college in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1804. It was a private non-sectarian institution, although the president of its board of directors when it was formed also happened to be the Roman Catholic bishop of Baltimore, John Carroll, first ordained Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in America in 1790.
St. Peter's Church, also known as St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral, was a historic church in Baltimore, Maryland that served as the first Catholic pro-cathedral in the United States; first built in 1770, the church became the pro-cathedral of the Diocese of Baltimore when the diocese was created in 1789, and the seat of Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States. The church was situated on the 300 block of Charles Street at Saratoga Street. The first resident pastor of the church was Fr. Charles Sewell of St. Mary's County. St. Peter's served all Catholics within the city of Baltimore who could travel to it, which was an anomaly among Catholic churches in the United States before 1884, which were largely defined by the nationality of their parishioners.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . |