Cathedral Basilica

During last year's trip to St. Louis, I visited a couple of beautiful cathedrals, but I left knowing that I had missed THE cathedral in St. Louis-- Cathedral Basilica. I fixed that this time.

Groundbreaking for Cathedral Basilica was in 1907, after more than 30 years of planning and fundraising. By 1914, enough of the building was complete for a dedication ceremony, yet full consecration did not take place until June 29, 1926.

First, the exterior:

The real reason this cathedral is so amazing is that it has one of the world's largest collections of mosaics. Work started on these in 1907, and they weren't completed until 1988! They are really awe-inspiring. There are 41.5 million pieces of tesserae glass in more than 7,000 colors.

Full-screen slideshow here.