Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia

For other uses, see St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (disambiguation).

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Cathedral-Basilica of SS. Peter & Paul
Location:	18th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	39°57′26.23″N 75°10′8.18″W
Built:	1846-1864
Architect:	Napoleon LeBrun; Constantino Brumidi
Architectural style:	Mid 19th Century Revival, Other
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	71000720
Added to NRHP:	June 24, 1971

The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the largest Catholic church in Pennsylvania and listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. In 1979, the Cathedral was visited by Pope John Paul II, where he went on to celebrate Mass.

Architecture

Basilica interior

With its majestic façade, vaulted dome, ornate main altar, eight side chapels and main sanctuary that comfortably holds 2,000 worshippers, the Cathedral-Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is the largest brownstone structure and one of the most architecturally eminent structures in the city of Philadelphia. Erected in 1864, the cathedral, presented in a Roman-Corinthian style of architecture, is modeled after the Lombard Church of St. Charles (San Carlo al Corso) in Rome. Its Palladian façade and aqua oxidized-copper dome are in the Italian Renaissance manner, and the interior is spacious with an oversize apse of stained glass and red antique marble in magnificent proportions reminiscent of Roman churches. It was largely decorated by Constantino Brumidi, who also painted the dome of the Capitol in Washington. A Baldichino over the main altar and the three altars on each of the side aisles point up this Italian Renaissance flavor. Also in the bowels of the building, is the compact 'Crypt of the Bishops'.

Architects

The Basilica was designed by John Notman and Napoleon Eugene Henry Charles Le Brun.

• Notman is most noted for his Philadelphia ecclesiastical architecture for the Protestant Episcopal Church, including St. Mark's Church, Locust Street (1850); St. Clement's Church, Twentieth Street (1857); and the Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square.

• Le Brun was a native Philadelphian born to French-Catholic parents. Other notable buildings he designed include the Home Insurance Building in New York City and the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He also designed a myriad of churches throughout Philadelphia, including St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Twentieth Street (1841); the Seventh Presbyterian Church (1842); the Scot's Presbyterian Church (1843); the Catholic Church of St. Peter the Apostle (German), Fifth Street (1843); and the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity (1844), no longer standing.

Construction

On the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29, 1846, Bishop Kenrick, then Bishop of Philadelphia, issued a pastoral letter announcing his determination to build a cathedral. It was the bishop's intention to avoid running into debt, so the cathedral was long in building. He chose for the site a plot of ground adjoining the seminary at Eighteenth and Race Streets. Construction on the cathedral began shortly thereafter but was not completed until 1864. This was less than 2 years after the Philadelphia Nativist Riots. These riots represented the height of Anti-Catholicism and Know-Nothingism in Philadelphia and, according to local lore, greatly influenced the design of the building. The Cathedral was built with only very high clerestory windows that according to parish histories would inhibit vandalism. In order to protect the windows of the Cathedral Basilica from possible future riots, the builders would throw stones into the air to determine the height of where the windows would be placed.

The Burial Crypt

Under the main altar of the Cathedral is a crypt with the remains of most of the Bishops and Archbishops, and of several other clergymen, of Philadelphia. The crypt can be reached by stairs behind the main altar. The crypt is the final resting place of:

Ordinaries of Philadelphia

• Michael Francis Egan, O.S.F., first Bishop of Philadelphia, consecrated October 28, 1810, died 1814.
• Henry Conwell, second Bishop of Philadelphia, consecrated 1820, died April 22, 1842.
• Francis Kenrick, third Bishop of Philadelphia, died 1851.
• James Frederick Wood, fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Philadelphia, died June 20, 1882.
• Patrick John Ryan, sixth Bishop and second Archbishop of Philadelphia, died February 3, 1911.
• Edmond Prendergast, seventh Bishop and third Archbishop of Philadelphia, died February 26, 1918.
• Dennis Joseph Dougherty, eighth Bishop, fourth Archbishop of Philadelphia, and first to be elevated to Cardinal, died May 31, 1951.
• John Krol, tenth Bishop, sixth Archbishop of Philadelphia, and third to be elevated to Cardinal, died March 3, 1996.

Other Burials

• Francis Patrick O'Neill, pastor of St. James, Philadelphia, 1843–1882, died 1882.
• Maurice Walsh, pastor of St. Paul’s Philadelphia, 1832–1888, died 1888.
• James Corcoran, professor at Saint Charles Seminary, died 1889.
• Ames J. Carroll, bishop, died 1913.
• Francis I. Clark, bishop, died 1918.
• D. Cletus Benjamin, bishop, died May 15, 1961.
• Gerald P. O'Hara, bishop, died 1935.
• Francis Brennan, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, the first American to receive an appointment to the Roman Curia, died July 2, 1968.
• Gerald V. McDevitt, bishop, died September 29, 1980.
• John Patrick Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, seventh Philadelphia priest to be elevated to Cardinal, died December 11, 2011.

See also

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
• List of basilicas
• List of cathedrals in the United States
• List of National Register of Historic Places entries

External links

• Official website
• Philadelphia Archdiocese website
• PBS: Holy Philadelphia
• USHistory.org
• Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center
• Napoleon LeBrun architect's biography
• Catholic Encyclopedia
• WherePhiladelphia.com