The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of the

Archdiocese of Denver The Archdiocese of Denver ( la, Archidiœcesis Denveriensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church that encompasses northern Colorado. It is part of the XIII Conference Region and includes 113 parishes, ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It is located at the corner of Logan Street and

Colfax Avenue Colfax Avenue is the main street that runs east–west through the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. As U.S. Highway 40, it was one of two principal highways serving Denver before the Interstate Highway System was constructed. In the local ...

in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood of central

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

History

Construction of the cathedral started in 1902 and was completed in 1911 with a final cost of approximately $500,000. The inaugural

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

was held on October 27, 1912, and consecration was in 1921. On August 7, 1912, lightning struck the west tower causing damage to the upper ; however, this was repaired before the opening. The cathedral was raised to the status of

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

on Christmas Day 1979. On August 13 and 14, 1993 (for

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

celebrated Mass at the cathedral, one of only a few cathedrals in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

so honored. In June 1997, lightning struck a second time, but this time damaged the east tower. The parish completed work to restore the tower within eight months. During the first days of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

from May 29 to June 1, 2020, the cathedral basilica was vandalized multiple times by protesters and damaged by responding police. Damage included

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

, spray-painted

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

phrases, and

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

penetrating the building. No one in the cathedral basilica was injured during the protests. In October 2021 the cathedral was vandalized again with graffiti being sprayed on doors and statues around the cathedral. It was the latest in a spate of vandalism against Catholic churches in Colorado which had damaged at least 25 other church buildings.

Architecture

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Leon Coquard Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

designed the cathedral in the

French Gothic French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedra ...

style. Its character is influenced by the 13th-century Saint Nicholas Collegiate church (''collégiale Saint-Nicolas'') of Munster, Moselle,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which is the birthplace of Bishop

Nicholas Chrysostom Matz Nicholas Chrysostom Matz (April 6, 1850 – August 9, 1917) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Denver from 1889 until his death in 1917. Biography Nicholas Matz was born in Munster, Lorraine, to Ant ...

, who supervised cathedral construction. The building is in the shape of a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

measuring with the nave rising to . The main façade houses three entrances and is framed by two spires. The structure is constructed of

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

from

Gunnison, Colorado Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. Gunnison was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a U ...

. The altar, statuary, and bishop's chair are all made of

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...

, while other elements feature Yule marble stone from

Marble, Colorado The Town of Marble is a Statutory Town in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 133 at the 2020 United States Census. History The Town of Marble was first incorporated in 1899. Marble remains a statutory town of th ...

. The 75 stained glass windows are from the Royal Bavarian Art Institute in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

founded by Franz Xaver Zettler. The church has the most leaded stained glass than any church in North America. When opened, the cathedral could accommodate 1,000 worshipers. However, due to significant alterations following the liturgical reforms initiated at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

(including the removal of the historic stone altar rail and the expansion of the chancel to accommodate a second, freestanding altar) the church now accommodates 895.

Ministries

The cathedral offers three daily and six Sunday Masses as well as other sacraments regularly. Additional services to the community include the yearly provision of 50,000–60,000 lunches to the poor in the area.

References

External links

Official Cathedral Site

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver Official Site
{{Denver Roman Catholic churches in Denver Immaculate Conception Denver Immaculate Conception Denver Roman Catholic churches completed in 1911 Colorado State Register of Historic Properties Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Denver Religious organizations established in 1860 Gothic Revival church buildings in Colorado 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

Architecture

Ministries

See also

References

External links