Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica & National Shrine

As one of Chicago's three basilicas, Our Lady of Sorrows has an important status in the Catholic Church and is among the grandest churches in the entire city. Our Lady of Sorrows seats 1,200 people beneath a soaring, barrel-vaulted coffered ceiling that rises 80 feet from the marble floor. The nave is 65 feet wide and features more than 1,100 ornate gold-leaf panels. An English Baroque style steeple turns this Renaissance-Revival church into a local landmark. It once had a twin steeple that was destroyed by lightning.

Henry Engelbert, John F. Pope & William J. Brinkmann, 1902