Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame, Catholic church at University of Notre Dame, US

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Gothic Revival church of light tan limestone and brick, 84 m long and 35 m wide, seating 1,000. Its 66 m tower carries a clock and a dark pointed spire beside a shorter round turret. Inside, clustered columns with gold capitals rise to a blue vaulted ceiling with gold ribs, and 44 stained-glass windows made in Le Mans between 1870 and 1890 light the nave.

Construction of this building started in 1870 and concluded in 1888, replacing an earlier log chapel from 1843 that had served the community. This expansion shows how the Catholic university grew larger and more established over the decades.

The church is the mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States and serves the university community. Its 56 wall paintings and Stations of the Cross were made by the Vatican painter Luigi Gregori over 17 years, and the blue vault painting follows the Roman church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

Visitors can enter the church during daytime hours to view the windows and interior spaces. The best time to look around is outside of service times so you can walk through at a leisurely pace without disrupting worship.

Inside sits the Murdy Family Organ, a large musical instrument with more than 5,000 pipes crafted using Dutch craftsmanship traditions. This organ is the fifth one installed in this space, reflecting a long history of musical practice in this sacred building.