The Stunning Cathedral In Downtown Cleveland That's Truly A Work Of Art
By Nikki Rhoades|Published May 01, 2019
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Nikki Rhoades
Author
Nikki is a lifelong Ohioan with a love for literature. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Akron and has enjoyed publishing her written work since 2007. She has a love of travel and does so frequently, though she believes that home is where the heart is — she continues to work in and around Cleveland as a digital content specialist to this day, working on everything from commercial scripts and social media posts to grassroots marketing initiatives.
The fire at Notre Dame will doubtlessly go down in history as the most shocking event of the decade. While its roof was burning, millions of people all around the world shared stories and images of their visit to the cathedral. While this church is doubtlessly a world treasure, cities all around the world have hidden some of their most striking architecture and most intriguing art in local cathedrals and churches. Today, we’re going to venture into a structure right here in Cleveland that’s nothing short of a work of art.
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is a familiar sight in Cleveland, and you've doubtlessly driven past it before.
The cathedral was designed by famed architect Patrick Charles Keeley, an individual known for 19th-century church design. It was dreamed up with Gothic revival elements, likely a nod to famous European cathedrals like Notre Dame.
This Roman Catholic cathedral was completed and consecrated in 1852, and it has changed very little over the years.
While interior and exterior decoration took an additional 24 years to come to full fruition, the church's original beauty is very much evident today. Its magnificence was funded by donors as far away as Paris, allowing a poverty-stricken Diocese to construct a church that would awe visitors for centuries to come.
Construction began on this striking Gothic structure in 1848, and the construction site was a notable distance from Cleveland's Public Square at the time.
Just as was the case with Erie Street Cemetery, this church was once located beyond the most heavily trafficked portion of Downtown Cleveland. However, as this small community grew into a bustling city, it found itself at the city's heart.
The campus of the church has undergone numerous upgrades over the years, though its overall feel has remained the same.
A spire was added within the first few decades of the cathedral's existence, and around 1902, art glass windows were imported from Munich to add to the atmosphere of this heavenly site. A school for boys and a school for girls eventually branched off of the church, and numerous renovations over the years allowed the campus to continually evolve.
In 1935, this stunning church mesmerized visitors when the Seventh National Eucharistic Congress brought thousands into Cleveland.
When this event occurred in late September, it was said that some 500,000 Catholics from around the world came to Cleveland. Pope Pius XI even greeted attendees via radio! While in Cleveland, these visitors were doubtlessly enchanted by the work of art that is St. John's Cathedral.
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Today, this incredible edifice continues to enchant.
You can learn more about this incredible cathedral here.
Address: 1007 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44114
The striking Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is a site beloved by Clevelanders. Have you ever visited this church or attended a mass here? If you’re mesmerized by church architecture, you simply must pay a visit to Tremont’s St. Theodosius.
