Mount Vernon Cultural Walk: Basilica of the Assumption

Be Here Stories

The Mount Vernon Cultural Walk is created by The Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA), which promotes, preserves, and enhances Baltimore's historic and cultural legacy and natural resources for current and future generations. A walking tour of this and other destinations is available at www.explorebaltimore.org/tours. Located at 409 Cathedral Street In 1789, Pope Pius VI appointed John Carroll the first Catholic bishop in the United States and selected Baltimore as the seat of the first diocese. It became the first archdiocese in 1808 and served the entire nation for several decades. Carroll laid the cornerstone of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1806. To express the ideals of the young republic, he rejected the European Gothic Revival style popular in church architecture, choosing instead the neoclassical style of the nation’s new capital city. He had the perfect architect to carry out his vision: Benjamin Latrobe, friend of Jefferson and architect of the U.S. Capitol, later known as “the father of American Architecture.” Jefferson’s insistence on skylights for the Capitol inspired Latrobe’s design for the Basilica’s grand dome. The Basilica opened in 1821 as the nation’s first cathedral. Considered Latrobe’s masterpiece and one of the world’s finest examples of 19th-century architecture, it is a National Historic Landmark. Latrobe’s design remains embedded in later additions, such as the onion domes and second-floor balcony. A thorough restoration was completed in 2006. Honored as the mother church for Catholics in America, the Basilica celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2021.