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Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Maginnis & Walsh

Photo: Jesus_Mountain.jpg: Joseph V derivative work: Rabanus Flavus · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Brookland, Washington, D.C., United States
Client / Owner
Catholic University of America
Year
Completed 1959
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. was designed by the Boston firm Maginnis & Walsh. Bishop Thomas Joseph Shahan of Catholic University proposed the shrine, and the university donated the land. Groundbreaking was on May 16, 1920. Work stopped in 1932 and resumed in 1954. The Great Upper Church was dedicated on November 20, 1959, and the final dome was completed on December 8, 2017.

The article calls the style Byzantine Revival and Romanesque Revival. It uses masonry walls and columns rather than structural steel, plus Venetian glass mosaics, Ludowici roof tiles and Pewabic Pottery. It is 459 feet (140 m) long, 240 feet (73 m) wide and 237 feet (72 m) tall per the text, though the infobox gives 329 feet.

Pope Benedict XVI gave a Golden Rose in 2008, and Justice Scalia's funeral Mass was held there in 2016. It is an active minor basilica. The article gives no hours.

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