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Basilica of the Assumption

 

     photography: Rachel H. Sangree

 

         

Structural Form:

Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic cathedral; masonry dome, post and lintel portico, groin vaulting
Engineer / Architect:

Benjamin H. Latrobe
Year Built:

1805-21
Location:

408 North Charles Street

Baltimore, MD  [Standalone Map]
Historical Details:

The Basilica was the first Roman

Catholic Cathedral built in the

United States. [more]
Technical Details:

N/A
References: J. Dorsey and J.D. Dilts, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture (Third Edition), Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD (1997), pp. 99-104. [more]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Historical Details:

 

The Basilica was the first Roman Catholic Cathedral built in the United States.  The church is

"somewhat similar to that of the Pantheon in Paris, but with a lower Roman dome rather than a

taller Renaissance one, and the Greek cross lengthened to become a Latin one." Latrobe did not live to see the church completed and there is much controversy surrounding the architect of the

towers' onion (Saracenic) domes.  

 
References: J. Dorsey and J.D. Dilts, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture (Third Edition), Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD (1997), pp. 67-69. (more)

Official Website: "Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary", Retrieved April 5, 2005 from:  http://www.baltimorebasilica.org