The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as Conewago Chapel, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

minor

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

dedicated to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

located in Conewago Township (Adams County),

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The church is a part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg The Diocese of Harrisburg is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that covers 15 counties of South Central Pennsylvania: Adams County, Pennsylvania, Adams, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cumberlan ...

Description

The Basilica was built between 1785 and 1787, and is constructed of

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

with three-foot-thick walls. It measures stories high, three bays wide and five bays deep. It features a

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style entrance with a semi-circular arched doorway and an 80-foot-high

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, added in 1873. Attached to the chapel is a three-story

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

, also built in 1787. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church constructed of stone in the United States. Prince Gallitzin spent the first five years of his priesthood at Conewago Chapel from 1795 to 1799. ''Note:'' This includes It was decreed a minor basilica on June 30, 1962. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975. File:Interior of Conewago Chapel, Adams County, Pennsylvania.jpg, Interior of chapel File:Conewago Chapel RC altar AdamsCo PA.JPG, Altar File:Conewago Chapel RC bell AdamsCo PA.JPG, Bell File:Conewago Chapel RC 1841 gravestone.JPG, 1841 gravestone

List of Pastors

The following

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

have served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the church:

References

External links

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus informationBasilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus organ specifications from the American Guild of Organists
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg , state=collapsed Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Federal architecture in Pennsylvania Roman Catholic churches completed in 1787

Churches in Adams County, Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg 1787 establishments in Pennsylvania 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Adams County, Pennsylvania

Description

List of Pastors

See also

References

External links