St. Peter Cathedral, Gothic Revival cathedral in Erie, United States
St. Peter Cathedral is a Gothic Revival cathedral in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, built from red sandstone quarried in Medina, New York, and white sandstone from Amherst, Ohio. It has three towers of different heights, giving the building an uneven, layered profile when seen from the street.
Construction began in 1873 under Bishop Tobias Mullen, with architect Patrick Keely leading the design, and the building was finished in 1893. That long building period mirrors the growth of the Catholic community in Erie through the late 1800s.
Inside, stained glass windows made by Franz Mayer of Munich show biblical scenes like the Annunciation in deep, rich colors. The way light passes through them changes the mood of the space throughout the day.
The cathedral sits in downtown Erie and is easy to reach on foot from many parts of the city center. Regular services are held throughout the week, so it helps to check in advance whether the building is open for visitors at a given time.
The main tower holds twelve bells that were cast in 1903, making it one of the few church towers in the region with a set of that size still in use. On days when the bells ring, their sound carries across a wide stretch of downtown Erie.
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