St. Adalbert's in Chicago
| St. Adalbert Church |
|
|---|---|
 St. Adalbert
Church |
|
| Coordinates: 41°51′32″N 87°40′4.3″W / 41.85889°N 87.667861°W | |
| Location | Chicago |
| Country | USA |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Founded | 1874 |
| Founder(s) | Polish immigrants |
| Dedication | St. Adalbert |
| Dedicated | September 20, 1914 |
| Consecrated | |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | For Polish immigrants |
| Architect(s) | Henry J. Schlacks |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Romanesque Revival |
| Groundbreaking | June 30, 1912 |
| Completed | 1914 |
| Construction cost | $200,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick |
St. Adalbert Church (Polish: Kościół Świętego Wojciecha) is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located at 1650 West 17th Street in Chicago, Illinois.
It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches in both its opulence and grand scale. The church is located on 17th Street between Paulina Street and Ashland Ave in the Pilsen area of Chicago. St. Adalbert has served generations of Polish immigrants and their American-born children; at its peak, parish membership numbered 4,000 families with more than 2,000 children enrolled in the school. Today the church is an anchor for the Mexican immigrants that have made the Pilsen area their home.
St. Adalbert's parish has seen many changes in the surrounding area since it was founded in 1874 to serve the needs of Chicago's Poles. This mother church of all the later Polish parishes on the West and South sides now serves the many Mexicans of the Pilsen neighborhood and has masses in Polish language as well as Spanish. A shrine of the Mexican patroness Our Lady of Guadalupe bears witness to the Mexican presence. The church itself is the gift of the Poles not just to the people of the surrounding area but to all of Chicago. It is truly a city treasure.
Henry J. Schlacks designed St. Adalbert Church and the adjoining rectory at 1650 W. 17th Street. The Italian Renaissance church with its twin towers and copper domes was modeled after St. Paul's Basilica in Rome. It was completed at an estimated cost of $200,000-on the north side of 17th St., between Paulina street and Ashland Ave.
Twin 185-foot Renaissance-style towers with copper cupolas complete the façade of this imposing buff-colored basilica-type edifice which rises above the smaller buildings of the old Pilsen neighborhood. One enters through a shallow portico with eight massive grey-flecked, rose-colored polished granite columns, from there to pass through a narrow vestibule with four large recessed fonts in its back wall, and finally to enter the immense main body where one finds the most magnificent marble work to be found in any church in Chicago.
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Wikipedia