The Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea is a
Minor Basilica of the
Catholic Church located in
Key West, Florida
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
,
United States. It is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the state of
Florida and the oldest parish in the
Archdiocese of Miami
The Archdiocese of Miami ( la, Archidioecesis Miamiensis, es, Arquidiócesis de Miami, ht, Achidyosèz Miami) is a particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastical territory consists of Broward County, ...
. The church is a
contributing property
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 distri ...
in the
Key West Historic District
The Key West Historic District (also known as Old Town of the City of Key West) is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on March 11, 1971) located in Key West, Florida. It encompasses approximately 4000 acres (16 km²), bounded by W ...
on the
National Register of Historic Places.
History
The first Catholic presence in the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...
was established on
Upper Matecumbe Key by Spanish
Jesuits in 1566.
The Jesuit superiors in
Spain abandoned the Florida missions in 1572 and the missionaries were recalled to
Mexico. They attempted to establish a permanent mission on Key West as early as 1724. However, the Native peoples on the Keys were unpredictable and the English raiders from the Carolinas forced the missionaries to return to
Cuba in 1727.
Two Italian Jesuits from
Havana opened a mission chapel on Key West in 1743 for the Native peoples. The Spanish governor ordered them to return to Cuba as well as he could not protect them.
The Rev. John F. Kirby was sent by Bishop
Francis X. Gartland of the
Diocese of Savannah
The Diocese of Savannah is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southern United States comprising 90 of the southern counties of the state of Georgia. to Key West in 1851 and established St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in 1851. The first permanent Catholic Church on Key West was dedicated on February 26, 1852, on the corner of Duval and Eaton Streets. It was the fifth Catholic parish established in the state of Florida and the first parish in South Florida.
[ Because of its location between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean it was placed under the patronage of Our Lady, Star of the Sea. Rev. Anthony B. Friend, S.J. arrived in Key West as pastor on February 15, 1898. He was the first many American Jesuits to serve the parish.
Five Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary from Montreal, Quebec, Canada arrived in 1868 to open a school for girls and to establish a convent. It is the first Catholic School in the state of Florida.][
The original church building was destroyed in a fire in 1901. Until a new church could be built, Mass was celebrated in the convent music hall.]
Architecture
The exterior of the church reflects the eclectic period of American Victorian Architecture.[ It also shows elements of a modified, early Renaissance Revival style. This may be found in the rusticated walls, rounded arches and ]lunettes
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
that are composed of transitional gothic arches, louvered shutters and colored glass. Many interior elements have both Romanesque and early Renaissance characteristics. Behind the altar is a stained glass window that depicts the church's patroness.
School
The Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea is the parish school. It was established in 1959 on the site of the former St. Joseph's School, for white male children, and St. Francis Xavier's School, for black children.
References
External links
Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea website
**
The Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, state=collapsed
Religious organizations established in 1851
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905
Star of the Sea, Key West
Buildings and structures in Key West, Florida
Roman Catholic churches in Florida
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami
1851 establishments in Florida
Historic district contributing properties in Florida
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Florida
20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States