Polish cathedral churches generally have large amounts of ornamentation in the exterior and interior, comparable only to the more famousChurrigueresque orSpanish Baroque style.[2] The decorations used reflect the tastes of thePolish immigrants to these regions in both the symbols and statuary ofsaints prominently displayed throughout. Additionally there is a heavy proclivity towards ornamentation drawn from theRenaissance andBaroque periods as well as modeling designs after famous churches inPoland.[3] The claim of different 'architectural styles' of Europe ascribed to these churches is misleading, as most of them are already labeled byart historians as examples ofEclecticism andHistoricism, characterized by the variousarchitectural revivals found in styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These churches exhibit a mixture of architectural traits from numerous past eras characteristic of Europe and the Americas.
Skerrett says Polish churches surpassed other immigrants' churches in size. Their style promoted the immigrants' vision of Polish identity.[4]
Kantowicz writes inThe Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith: "The preference of the Polish League forRenaissance andBaroque forms seems more clear cut. The glory days of thePolish Commonwealth came in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when it formed the largest state inEurope… The architectural style of Chicago's Polish churches inChicago reflect this, particularly the magnificent edifices of Worthmann and Steinbach built alongMilwaukee Avenue on theNorthwest Side, reflected the renaissance glory ofPolish Catholicism".
Peter Williams in his bookHouses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States on p. 179 writes,"[I]nDetroit andChicago especially, a distinctive genre of church building emerged among Polish communities, the "Polish cathedral." Where most Catholic churches were built in grander or humbler variations andGothic andRomanesque themes popular across the country, the ambitiousprelates in theGreat LakesPolonias often chose to make monumental statements in the Renaissance style of their mother country. The scale of these structures was often enormous, both in the great size of these parishes and the episcopal ambitions of their clerical leaders... Still visible from the freeways, many of these "cathedrals" such asSt. Stanislaus Kostka in Chicago now serveAfrican-American orLatino constituencies while others have been closed by their archbishops as no longer economically viable.
The churches are major tourist attractions in Chicago, with tours devoted exclusively to them.[5][6] In May 1980 theChicago Architecture Foundation's ArchiCenter held an exhibit on these treasures titledChicago's Polish Churches.
Many ofChicago'sProtestant elites criticized these stylistically grand churches as "ostentatious" in comparison with the "plainer" style in vogue for Protestant houses of worship.[9] Catholic hierarchs, such asJohn Lancaster Spalding, the first Bishop ofPeoria, responded by comparing the churches that the immigrants financed to thepyramids of Egypt that were built by slaves.[9]
The need for identity was evident in the unique architecture of the Polish cathedral style. It was often associated with the religious order of theCongregation of the Resurrection, in addition to the architectural styles of theRenaissance andBaroque periods.[10][11] Both in scale and scope, these edifices were attempts to contradict the marginal status ofPolish immigrants in society. As a stateless people whose culture was systematically attacked in its homeland during the years ofpartition, they also had a low economic rank in the industrial centers to which they had immigrated at the turn of the century.[12] The construction of these churches greatly influenced the development of neighborhoods that surrounded them. World views that the Polish immigrants from theOld World retained, and their creative assimilation into theNew World, shaped the landscape of the rapidly growing industrial regions to which they immigrated.[13]
List of churches built in the Polish cathedral style
^Williams, Peter W.,"Houses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States" pp. 157, 179–180 University of Illinois Press; Reprint edition (2000)
^"Polish churches along the Kennedy Expressway" byLilien, Marya, pp. 18–29, Spring 1980
^The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith by Kantowicz, Edward pp. 27–29, Booklink, Ireland 2006
^SKERRETT, Ellen. "Parish and Neighborhood in Polonia".Sacred Space. Catholicism, Chicago Style. p. 153.In terms of sheer size and monumentality, Polish Catholic churches on the Near Northwest Side surpassed the parish churches constructed by mostGerman,Bohemian andIrish congregations. The architectural style promoted by theResurrectionists usedRenaissance andBaroque forms molded to distinctively promote their vision ofPolish history and identity.
^Chicago's Polish Downtown Victoria Granacki in association with the Polish Museum of America pp. 7–11, 14–16, 18–23 Arcadia Publishing 2004
^Williams, Peter W.,"Houses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States" p. 178 University of Illinois Press; Reprint edition (2000)
^abCatholicism, Chicago Style by Skerrett, Ellen; Kantowicz, Edward R.; and Avella, Steven M., p. 147, Loyola University Press, 1993
^Ethnic Chicago: A Mulicultural Portrait edited by Melvin G. Holli and Peter a'A Jones, pp. 178–9, 595–6, William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1995
^Swiderski, Klara and Robert,"Basilica of St. Hyacinth: Inside Religion", pp. 3–8, Ex Libris Galeria Polskiej Ksiazki, 2005
^Piatkowska Danuta Polskie Kościoły w Nowym Jorku (The Polish Churches of New York [in Polish]), pp. 19–27, 559–61, Wydawnictwa Swietego Krzyza, 2002
^Catholicism, Chicago Style by Skerrett, Ellen; Kantowicz, Edward R.; and Avella, Steven M., pp. 139–40, 146–50, 152–62, Loyola University Press, 1993
