Saint Donatus Catholic Church is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counti ...

located in the

Jackson County, Iowa Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,485. The county seat is Maquoketa. History The county was formed on December 21, 1837, and named after US President Andrew Jackson. In ...

community of St. Donatus. The patron of the parish and the town is

Saint Donatus of Muenstereifel Donatus of Muenstereifel is a catacomb saint whose relics are found in the Jesuit church in Muenstereifel, Bad Muenstereifel. He is widely venerated in the Rhine valley region of Germany and the Low Countries, and he is a patron saint of Buda and ...

, whose ''cultus'' is popular in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. The parish complex includes a church building,

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 ...

, chapel and cemetery. They are all

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the Village of St. Donatus Historic District, which 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 1989.

Description

The original church building, modeled after St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, was completed in 1858. It was destroyed in a fire on November 24, 1907. The exterior stone walls survived, and were used to build the present church. It was completed in 1908. The stone for the bell tower was quarried from the nearby bluffs. It is capped by a wooden steeple. There is little in the way of exterior ornamentation. The exterior stone walls have been covered with a coating of cement and lime. The parish cemetery is located behind the church. Some of the earlier graves are marked by elaborate iron crosses. Some of the early stone headstones were made in

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

, while others were created by 0. Wenzler of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. The rectory, located next to the church, is a contemporary of the original church. It was built of stone that was quarried nearby and covered with light yellow/brown

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

. It is capped with a

hip 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, ...

that features cross

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

windows. The moderate pitch of the roof and the lack of

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

are typical of traditional Luxembourg architecture. The parish is known for its outdoor

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 ...

located on the hill behind the church. They were constructed in 1861 under the direction of the Rev. J. Michael Flammang, and may be one of the first developed in the United States. Each of the fourteen stations are , and are placed in open, arched entrances and gabled roofs. They are spaced at intervals of about along a dirt footpath that winds its way to the top of the bluff and the Pieta Chapel. During

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

the church sponsors a procession through the outdoor stations to the small chapel at the top of this hill. The chapel is modeled after the Chapel du Bildchen near

Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...

, Luxembourg. The simple cut-stone structure was completed in 1885. The exterior stone has been left bare, and has little ornamentation. A simple wooden bell tower is located above the front gable. File:St. Donatus Catholic Church Complex.jpg, Parish complex File:Cemetery behind St. Donatus Catholic Church.jpg, St. Donatus Cemetery File:Pieta Chapel.jpg, Pieta Chapel File:St Donatus, IA, USA - panoramio.jpg, One of the outdoor Stations of the Cross

References

{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, state=collapsed Roman Catholic churches completed in 1908 Donatus Churches in Jackson County, Iowa Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Iowa Historic district contributing properties in Iowa 1858 establishments in Iowa 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States