Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Pittsburgh, referred to in Polish as ''Kościół Matki Boskiej,'' is a historic church of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, one of the city's oldest and largest churches. Located on

Polish Hill Polish Hill ( pl, Polskie Wzgórze) is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Primarily a residential area, it is home to Pittsburgh's Immaculate Heart of Mary church. History Large numbers of Polish immigrants settled the neighborhood after ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, it is a prime example of the so-called ' Polish Cathedral' style of churches in both its opulence and grand scale.

History

Immaculate Heart of Mary was founded in 1897 as a Polish ethnic parish. Beginning in 1885, Polish immigrants began settling on Herron Hill in

. Eventually so many immigrants settled there that the area was renamed

. At first, the residents attended St. Stanislaus parish in the Strip District, but by 1895, the population of Polish Hill grew to the point that a committee of local citizens petitioned the bishop for their own parish. Permission was granted and the cornerstone of a combined church, school, and convent was laid in October 1896. The completed building was dedicated in August 1897. The first floor of the building served as a school and the second floor served as the church. In 1899, the parish purchased land for a larger church. A prolific Akron, Ohio, architect William P. Ginther who specialized in ecclesiastical buildings designed the new structure, which was awarded a Pittsburgh Historic Landmark designation. The cornerstone was laid on July 31, 1904, and the completed church was dedicated on December 3, 1905. Like a number of other Polish churches in the so-called Polish Cathedral style such as St. Mary of the Angels in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

or St. Josaphat's Basilica in

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 i ...

, the architectural plans for the church were intentionally modeled on

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

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. This church still serves the community of Polish Hill today. This parish was the first in the United States of America to have the Divine Mercy Novena. They continue to have the novena and to have a very large celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday immediately after Easter Sunday.

Gallery

Image:IHMPittsburgh2.jpg, View looking west on Brereton Street. Image:IHMPittsburgh3.jpg, View looking west on Dobson Street. Image:IHMPittsburgh4.jpg, View from front of structure.

References

* {{Pittsburgh Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Roman Catholic churches in Pittsburgh Roman Catholic churches in Pennsylvania Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Polish-American culture in Pittsburgh Polish Cathedral style architecture 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905