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Basilica of St. Louis,
King of France
(Old Cathedral)

DESCRIPTION: The Old Cathedral, located near the St. Louis Riverfront, is the oldest cathedral west of the Mississippi River. It is one of St. Louis' best-known landmarks and the only building on the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch grounds) site. The first mass in St. Louis was celebrated on this spot in 1764. It has been said that the site of the Old Cathedral is the only parcel of land in St. Louis that has been used for the same purpose since the city's founding.

ADDRESS: 209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, MO 63101

LOCATION: Downtown St. Louis

PHONE NUMBER: 314-231-3250

WEB SITE: www.archstl.org

GETTING THERE: From the downtown business district, take Market Street east to Memorial Drive. The Old Cathedral is at the foot of Market at Memorial Drive. There is parking adjacent to the Cathedral.

METROLINK: Take MetroLink light rail system to the Laclede's Landing Exit and walk several blocks south to the Cathedral through the Gateway Arch grounds.

HOURS: Daily Mass, Monday-Friday at 7 a.m. and 12:10 p.m.; Saturday Mass, 7 a.m., 5:30 p.m.; Sunday Mass, 8 and 10:30 a.m., noon and 5 p.m.

HANDICAPPED ACCESS: The Old Cathedral is handicap accessible.

ADMISSION: Free

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The two insignia of a basilica-a canopoeum (umbrella) and tintinnabulum (little bell) are on the right and the left as one enters the nave of the Old Cathedral.
• The sanctuary, with four fluted columns in the Corinthian style, is 40 feet long and 30 feet wide.
• Two side altars are dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul, secondary patron of the diocese, and St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland.
• A large copy of Velazquez' famed "The Crucifixion" hangs above the main altar.
• An interesting portrait of St. Louis IX, King of France, after whom the city of St. Louis is named, hangs at the rear of the Cathedral. The painting shows the young man kneeling in front of an altar on the night before his coronation. The portrait was a gift of the King of France in 1818. It was restored in 1949 and 1999.
• Statues of Saint Louis IX and Saint Joan of Arc are near the altar at the front of the Cathedral.
• In a lighted cabinet at the rear of the Cathedral are statues of the Infant of Prague and Our Lady of Fatima.
• Also in the Cathedral are statues of Mary, St. Bernard and St. Teresa.
• The St. Vincent de Paul Society in America was established at the Old Cathedral in 1845.

MUSEUM: Adjacent to the Old Cathedral is a small museum which features a number of interesting artifacts relating to the history of the Cathedral. Among the items displayed are paintings dating to the late 1700s, a collection of relics, an old bell from the original Cathedral, and a piece of a bullet-pierced cross. The museum also houses the tomb of Bishop Rosati, builder of the Old Cathedral. The cross was shot during a demonstration in 1854 when an anti-Catholic group called the "Know-Nothings" protesting against immigration attacked the Old Cathedral intending to burn it down. But an old Irish soldier mounted a brass cannon in front of the Cathedral frightening off the Know-Nothings but not before they fired some wild shots, one of which hit the cross.

HISTORY: When St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur trapper Pierre Laclede, there was no priest in his party, unlike many of the expeditions by French explorers. However, the Catholic Laclede set aside a tract of land on the Mississippi River bank for construction of a church. It is on that site that the building known today as the Old Cathedral stands.

The first mass in St. Louis was celebrated on that site in 1764, and in 1770 a small log chapel was built there. At the time, St. Louis' population was described in "The Story of the Old Cathedral" as "a strange mixture of hunters, trappers, boatmen from Canada, farmers from Louisiana, Spanish soldiers and traders, Indian and Negro slaves, native Creoles and adventurers from Spain and France."

By 1774 St. Louis had grown to include 115 houses, and plans were drawn up for a second church, another log structure to be built in the French style with the logs laid vertically rather than horizontally. The new church was built in 1776, the same year St. Louis was named a canonical parish. The building was used as a cathedral until the third church, a brick building, was dedicated in 1820. Plans for the building had been drawn up by the Rev. Louis William DuBourg after he was consecrated as bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas in 1815.

During that time, Bishop DuBourg was also concerned about providing for the higher education of the youth of the new city, and St. Louis Academy, a forerunner of St. Louis University, was founded in 1818. One of the school's temporary locations was on a site just south of the brick Cathedral.

The Cathedral, however, was never completed and fell into disrepair. In 1826 St. Louis became a separate diocese and the next year Bishop Joseph Rosati was named the first bishop of the diocese. He undertook the job of financing the construction of the building that stands today.

Work commenced in 1831 and was completed three years later. The church was dedicated on October 26, 1834 in a ceremony that included an artillery corps cannonade, a day-long drill by another military unit and performances by a military band from the Jefferson Barracks military site south of the city. Three bishops and a bishop-elect took part in the ceremonies.

From 1826 to 1843, the St. Louis diocese, headquartered at the Old Cathedral, covered nearly half of America, from Louisiana north to Michigan, from Kentucky west to Oregon and from the state of Washington along the Canadian border to the Great Lakes.

Rosati and Pope Gregory XVI were former classmates, and Rosati was able to get extraordinary privileges for the Cathedral. For example, the plenary indulgences that may be gained by those who visit the seven churches in Rome are available to those who devoutly visit the three altars of the Old Cathedral with the same conditions applying.

Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, Rosati's successor, took over in 1843 and managed to pay off the debts from construction of the Cathedral, which allowed the diocese to establish new parishes. With increased immigration during that time period doubling the population every decade and St. Louis' strongly Catholic orientation, additional churches were needed. Kenrick in 1845 divided the diocese into three parishes and launched a major building program.

When the New Cathedral opened in the city's Central West End in 1914, the official title of Cathedral of St. Louis passed from the old building to the new. The original Cathedral was then renamed the Church of St. Louis IX, King of France. As commercial operations replaced residences in the downtown area, the Old Cathedral began to minister to downtown workers and tourists.

In 1961 Pope John XXIII decreed the Cathedral a basilica, the highest honor ever afforded an American church. For a church to be designated as a basilica, it must be accorded the same privileges as one of the seven main churches of Rome.

A couple of years later when the riverfront area was cleared for construction of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Old Cathedral was the only building spared. An intensive restoration program was completed the same year, restoring the appearance of the Old Cathedral as much as possible to its original look.

WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are 169 restaurants in downtown St. Louis.

GIFT SHOP: A small gift shop adjacent to the Old Cathedral carries a variety of religious items.

WHAT'S NEARBY: The Gateway Arch, the St. Louis Riverfront, the historic Laclede's Landing entertainment district, Busch Stadium, The Dome at America's Center and the Scottrade Center are nearby.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: Monsignor Bernard Sandheinrich, 314-371-4980

Readers should call 1-800-916-0040 to request a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitor Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis at www.explorestlouis.com