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Basilica of the Assumption

Engineer / Architect: Benjamin H. Latrobe
Location: 408 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD
Year Built: 1805-21
Structural Form: Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic cathedral; masonry dome, post and lintel portico, groin vaulting
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.
Technical Details: N/A
Image Source(s): Rachel Sangree
References: J. Dorsey and J.D. Dilts, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture (Third Edition), Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD (1997), pp. 67-69.
Official Website: "Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary", Retrieved April 5, 2005 from: Link

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