St. Louis Basilica

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Entrance facade of the basilica
Interior with altar

The Basilica of St. Louis, King of France ( English Basilica of St. Louis, King of France ) is a Roman Catholic church in St. Louis in the US state of Missouri . It was the first cathedral west of the Mississippi , on the banks of which it lies. The minor basilica is dedicated to Ludwig the saint , who is also the namesake of the city.

history

After a simple chapel in 1766, a first wooden church was built here in 1776 during the French colony of Louisiana , when the city of Saint-Louis was founded by Franco-Louisiana co-founders Pierre Lacléde and René-Auguste Chouteau. Until 1811 there was no permanent pastor. With the creation of the diocese of Saint Louis , the church became a cathedral. In 1831, the first bishop of St. Louis, Joseph Rosati , had a new cathedral built in its place. In October 1834 the church was consecrated as the Cathedral of St. Louis. It remained the only parish church in St. Louis until 1845. Its interior was completed in 1853.

In 1914, in view of the increase in the urban population, the construction of what is now the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis was completed and the bishopric was moved there.

On June 27, 1961, Pope John XXIII awarded the church, also called Old Cathedral, has the rank of a minor basilica with the designation Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. The basilica is currently the parish church of a staff parish without a delimited parish.

Building

The three-aisled church was built under the direction of the architects Joseph Laveille and George Morton in the classical style of the Greek Revival . It was built of limestone and is 41 meters long, 26 meters wide, the tower is 29 meters high. The church is known for its marble altars, a painting of St. Ludwig adoring the crown of thorns, donated by Louis XVIII. of France, and a copy of the painting of the Crucifixion by Diego Velázquez , which has served as an altarpiece since the second half of the 20th century .

The basement of the church displays a collection from the history of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, including a bell donated to the church by the governor of the Territory of Louisiana in the early 19th century. Bishop Joseph Rosati, who initiated the construction of the church, was buried in a vault under the chancel.

Based on a resolution from 1933, today's Gateway Arch National Park was created around the church . Because of the historic importance of the church as the Landmark of St. Louis, it was left untouched while all of the neighboring buildings were demolished to make way for the entrance to the 192-foot archway.

Web links

Commons : Basilica of St. Louis, King of France  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) on gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ a b History (English)
  3. ↑ Louis IX. had acquired the "true" crown of thorns of Christ from Byzantium and built the Sainte-Chapelle for it in Paris .
  4. ↑ Dawne Massey: Insiders' Guide to St. Louis . 3rd Edition, 2007, Guilford, Connecticut, Globe Pequot Press, 105.

Coordinates: 38 ° 37 ′ 26.8 ″  N , 90 ° 11 ′ 13.9 ″  W.