Holy Rosary Catholic Church is a historic

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 ...

parish church in the

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neighborhood of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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, United States. Founded in the early 1890s, the parish completed the present Baroque-styled church shortly before 1910; the building has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. By the early 1890s, a strong Italian immigrant community had been formed along Mayfield Road on the eastern edge of Cleveland, and priests from the nearby community of East Cleveland began ministering to these immigrants. Their efforts saw success: the Diocese of Cleveland formed Holy Rosary parish in 1892, and the first church building was erected by the year's end. Although Italian ties were strong in the community, they soon began to assimilate; religious education for children was offered at the church as early as 1896. At one time, Holy Rosary was one of approximately fifty

national parish National parish is a type of Catholic parish distinguished by liturgical rites or nationality of the congregation; it is found within a diocese or particular Church, which includes other types of parishes in the same geographical area, each parish ...

es in Cleveland, due to the city's rapid growth via European immigration; it was the first Italian parish in the city. The members arranged for the present building to be erected in 1905, although four years passed before it was ready for consecration.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...

: Somerset, 1999, 234. Many of Holy Rosary's earliest members were stone cutters, but their church does not reflect their craft: its walls are brick. The

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

is stone, and copper and stone are used for various external details. At the center of the facade, flights of stairs provide access to the double doors at the main entrance, above which two large arched windows are placed. The bays on the sides of the facade include large arched areas filled primarily with brick; only small arched windows and

oculi An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in antiquity, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. It is also known as an '' œil-de-boeuf'' from the French, or simply a "bull's- ...

penetrate these walls. Two belt courses, the lower more prominent than the upper, appear near the top of the facade; one is interrupted by the large arch windows above the entrance, while the other sits immediately above them. Numerous statues stand atop the facade at its significant points, while the building's eastern corner is topped by a domed

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, fro ...

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2010-02-16. In 1976, Holy Rosary Church 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 ...

, qualifying both because of its architecture and its place in the community's history. It is one of several national parishes with this designation in the city, along with St. Elizabeth's (Hungarian), St. Michael's (German), St. Stanislaus' (Polish), and St. Stephen's (German).

References

External links

Church website
* {{National Register of Historic Places Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905 Baroque Revival architecture in the United States Roman Catholic churches in Cleveland Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Italian-American culture in Cleveland Italian-American Roman Catholic national parishes in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio U.S. Route 322 1905 establishments in Ohio 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States