Guardian Angel Cathedral is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

in Winchester, Nevada, United States, in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

. It is just off the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

, north of the

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

hotel. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas. Before the establishment of the Diocese of Las Vegas in 1995, it was a parish of the Diocese of Reno.

History

St. Viator Church was built on the site of the former city dump in 1955. The ground proved to be unstable and the church was condemned and torn down six months after it opened. The Rev. Richard Crowley, CSV, now churchless, approached

Moe Dalitz Morris Barney Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989) was an American gangster, businessman, casino owner, and philanthropist. He was one of the major figures who shaped Las Vegas in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las V ...

to donate land on the Las Vegas Strip. Although Jewish, Dalitz liked the idea of having a church convenient for his casino workers. He donated land near the

Desert Inn The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the ...

in 1961. Dalitz was familiar with the work of Los Angeles architect

Paul R. Williams Paul Revere Williams, FAIA (February 18, 1894 – January 23, 1980) was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He practiced mostly in Southern California and designed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Frank Sina ...

and approached him to design the new church. Guardian Angel Shrine was opened on October 2, 1963. In 1977 Bishop Norman McFarland of the recently re-designated Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas chose the shrine as the co-cathedral. The diocese was divided in 1995 and the Diocese of Las Vegas was established. Guardian Angel retained its status as a cathedral. The cathedral was renovated for $1.3 million in 1995.

Architecture

Architect Paul R. Williams used an A-frame design for the church structure. A four-sided spire capped with a cross is located to the front left of the cathedral. At its base is a statue of the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...

. There is a large

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

over the main entrance of the cathedral by Los Angeles artist Edith Piczek. It represents the Guardian Angel with three figures: Penance, Prayer and Peace. She also created the mural on the rear

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

wall, which is titled ''The Final Beginning''. The stained glass windows, which depict the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, are by her sister Isabel Piczek. They are located in 12 triangular niches that bisect the A-frame. A large crucifix is suspended from the ceiling above the altar and in front of the chancel mural. There is seating for 1,100 people in the cathedral. The pews on the main floor are divided into four sections across the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and a deep gallery above the main entrance. The

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

is housed in a chapel to the right of the altar, and the Lady chapel is located on the opposite side of the cathedral. File:Guardian Angel Cathedral - Las Vegas 02.JPG, Exterior detail File:Guardian Angel Cathedral interior - Las Vegas 18.jpg, View up the nave to the sanctuary File:Guardian Angel Cathedral interior - Las Vegas 15.JPG, Rear gallery File:Guardian Angel Cathedral interior - Las Vegas 02.JPG, Detail of Chancel mural: ''The Final Beginning'' File:Guardian Angel Cathedral interior - Las Vegas 09.JPG, Stained glass window: Station 14

References

External links

*
Official Cathedral SiteArchdiocese of Las Vegas Official Site
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Las Vegas, state=collapsed Cathedrals in Nevada Roman Catholic cathedrals in Nevada Roman Catholic churches in Nevada Buildings and structures in Winchester, Nevada Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Las Vegas Christian organizations established in 1963 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1963 Modernist architecture in Nevada Paul Williams (architect) buildings 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links