St. Leo's Church is a historic Roman Catholic church complex located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is the 'core' of the neighborhood.

Description

The church was built in 1880-81 of brick with stone trim, and combines

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, Romanesque, and Classical elements. It features a high entrance porch, a turret with conical roof on the north wall, a square

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

at the northeast corner, a large

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

in the main façade, and a variety of decorative brickwork. It was the first church in Maryland, and among the first in the nation, founded and built specifically for Italian immigrants. The church was designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin. St. Leo's 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 ...

in 1983. It houses an 1881 historic Niemann pipe organ. The organ was played in recital during the Organ Historical Society Convention in July 2024.

Gallery

Image:Saint Leo RC Church Baltimore Maryland.jpg, A photograph of Saint Leo's from a 1914 publication

References

External links

*, including photo from 1981, at Maryland Historical Trust
Information from the Little Italy websiteparish websiteRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo Baltimore 1881 establishments in Maryland 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Italianate architecture in Maryland Italian-American culture in Baltimore Little Italy, Baltimore Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Roman Catholic churches completed in 1881 Roman Catholic churches in Baltimore Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Italianate church buildings in the United States