Holy Rosary Catholic Church is a historic

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parish church in the

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neighborhood of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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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

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History

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 parishes 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 Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 234.

Architecture, construction and design

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

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on the sides of the facade include large arched areas filled primarily with brick; only small arched windows and oculi penetrate these walls. Two

belt course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...

s, 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

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, 2007. Accessed 2010-02-16.

Status on National Register of Historic Places

In 1976, Holy Rosary Church was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, 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