St. Mary's Basilica, Spanish Colonial Revival church in Downtown Phoenix, United States.
St. Mary's Basilica is a church featuring Spanish Colonial Revival architecture located in downtown Phoenix. The building displays four domes with onion-shaped tops and bell towers on the exterior, with Romanesque details and expansive stained glass windows filling the interior.
The parish was founded in 1881 with an adobe church on this site; from 1895 Franciscan Friars staffed it. The present church was built from 1902 to 1914, its plans evolving from Gothic Revival sketches by pastor Novatus Benzing into Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival forms, and was dedicated in 1915. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and raised to minor basilica by Pope John Paul II on 2 September 1985.
The lower nave windows depict popular Franciscan saints and the German, Spanish and Irish heritages of the early parish. The basilica's minor-basilica rank is shown by the tintinnabulum and the red-and-gold ombrellone kept in the sanctuary. Since July 2023 the Diocese of Phoenix, not the Franciscans, has staffed the church.
The basilica is situated in downtown Phoenix and is easily accessible from nearby streets. Keep in mind this is an active house of worship, so visiting during services requires respectful behavior and modest clothing.
Pope John Paul II raised St. Mary's to minor basilica status with the decree Una Propemodum Voce on 2 September 1985, signed by Cardinal Agostino Casaroli. It became the 32nd basilica in the United States and remains the only one in Arizona. The tintinnabulum and the red-and-gold ombrellone, symbols of that rank, stand in the sanctuary.
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