Notre Dame de Chicago 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 ...

church in the Near West Side community area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The church was built from 1889 to 1892, replacing an earlier church built in 1865 at a different site.

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

architect Gregoire Vigeant designed the church in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style; the design has a heavy French influence which can be seen in its

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

layout, its

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

s and square domes, and the emphasis on height suggested by its two

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

s and its lantern. Due to the declining size of its original French congregation, the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 and ...

gave control of the church to the

Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament ( la, Congregatio Sanctissimi Sacramenti), commonly known as the Sacramentinos is a Catholic Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right for men (priests, deacons, and brothers) founded by St. ...

in 1918. The church hosted the International Eucharistic Congress in 1926. As the successor to the St. Louis Church, the first French church in Chicago, Notre Dame de Chicago represents a significant part of the history of French immigrants in Chicago. The church has been called "the best extant landmark associated with the French in Chicago" and "the only surviving French monument" in the city. Due to its importance to the history of the French community and its architectural significance, the church was added to 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 ...

on March 7, 1979. In January 2019, it was announced that the parish would be merged with nearby Holy Family Church as part of the Chicago Archdiocese's reconfiguration plan. A pastor for both parishes would say Masses in both locations but be based out of Notre Dame, with Holy Family still available for special events and weddings. The merger took effect in July 2019.

References

External links

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Notre Dame de Chicago parish website
Roman Catholic churches in Chicago French-American culture in Illinois Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Roman Catholic churches completed in 1892 Romanesque Revival church buildings in Illinois 1892 establishments in Illinois Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States {{Chicago-struct-stub