The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and was the first major religious building constructed in the nation after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. As a co-cathedral, it is one of the seats of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. It is considered the masterpiece of Be...
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The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and was the first major religious building constructed in the nation after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. As a co-cathedral, it is one of the seats of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. It is considered the masterpiece of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the "Father of American Architecture".
The Basilica was constructed (1806–1821) to a design of Benjamin Henry Latrobe — America's first professionally trained architect and Thomas Jefferson's Architect of the U.S. Capitol; under the guidance of America's first Bishop, John Carroll. The Basilica was later consecrated on May 31, 1821 by the third Archbishop of Baltimore, Ambrose Maréchal.
Pope Pius XI raised the Cathedral to the rank of a Minor Basilica in 1937. In 1969, it was listed on the National Register of Historic...
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