Located in the Central West End, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is a beautiful testament to the city's Catholic community, containing one of the largest collections of mosaics in the Western World.
Construction for the basilica started in the early 1900s and was mostly complete by 1914. The building has two main design influences. The exterior follows the Romanesque style with three domes and numerous columns, but the interior has influences in Byzantine style which is known for its mosaics.
Work on the mosaics started in 1912 and was not finished until 1988. It took 20 artists to complete the collection which spans 83,000 square feet and contains 41.5 million pieces of glass in over 7,000 different colors. The mosaics tell stories from the Bible and about the history St. Louis Catholicism.
St. Louis has a strong Catholic community with numerous Cathedrals and Catholic private schools located in the area. In fact, both the church and the city were named after Saint King Louis IX of France.
In 1997, the cathedral was officially designated a basilica by Pope John Paul II because of the St. Louis Catholic community and the beauty of the building.
The cathedral also features a crypt in which several notable members of the church were buried and a historic organ.
The cathedral is open for tours for everyone, regardless of their religion.
