Rosary Cathedral (Toledo, Ohio) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral
Location	2535 Collingwood Boulevard Toledo, Ohio
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Founder(s)	Samuel Stritch
Dedicated	October 1940
Architecture
Architect(s)	John T. Comes original design William Perry supervising architect
Administration
Diocese	Toledo

The Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral is a large Roman Catholic church. You can find it at 2535 Collingwood Boulevard in the Old West End area of Toledo, Ohio. This cathedral is the main church for 122 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo. It has a special design called the Spanish Plateresque style. This style was chosen to honor Toledo's sister city, Toledo, Spain. The cathedral was finished in 1931, built to be like the grand European cathedrals from the Middle Ages.

A beautiful mosaic showing the crucifixion above the altar.

History of the Cathedral

A statue of Mary and baby Jesus inside the cathedral.

The second bishop of the Toledo, Ohio diocese, Samuel Stritch, chose the final plans for the cathedral. He approved the drawings made by William Perry in 1925. Building work started in 1925, and the first stone was laid in 1926. The main structure was finished in 1931, even during the Great Depression. It cost $3.25 million to build. In October 1940, after the depression ended, Bishop Karl Joseph Alter officially opened the church. He named it Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral.

Cathedral's Architecture

A view of the altar and the main hall, called the nave.

The cathedral is shaped like a basilica, which is a long building with a central aisle. It is built from strong Massachusetts granite with Indiana limestone details. The front of the church has one main entrance. This entrance is set back in a curved arch, decorated with carved limestone. Above the doorway, there is a statue of the Virgin Mary in a special carved spot.

Higher up, there is a large round window, 28 feet (8.5 meters) wide. It has beautiful limestone patterns. This window shows scenes from Mary's life. Children from all over the diocese helped pay for it by donating pennies. On each side of the entrance, there are two tall, eight-sided towers. These towers have carvings of Saints Peter and Paul. Above the window, on the triangular part of the roof (the pediment), you can see the diocese's coat of arms. A cross sits at the very top. A carved band, called a frieze, goes around the outside of the church. It shows important events from church history.

The main hall of the cathedral, called the nave, has a curved ceiling. This ceiling is divided into seven sections. Each section is beautifully painted with figures from the Old and New Testaments by artist Felix Lieftuchter. The paintings use a special method that makes the colors last and doesn't affect the sound in the church. Each section has three tall windows, 26 feet (7.9 meters) high and 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide. Along the nave, there are smaller altars. These are dedicated to St. Theresa of Lisieux and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

The main altar is made from black marble imported from Spain. Before a recent update, it had a wooden canopy (a baldachin) supported by marble columns. The pulpit, where sermons are given, is carved from white oak by a German artist named August Schmidt. Around the back part of the church, called the apse, there are statues of the eight writers of the New Testament. Each statue stands under a small, pointed tower, called a flèche.

Ernest M. Skinner Organ

The Bishop's special chair (Cathedra) and its canopy (Baldachin).

The cathedral has a very large Ernest M. Skinner pipe organ. It was built in 1930 and personally finished by Ernest Skinner himself. This amazing instrument was officially opened in 1931. It has 75 stops and 76 sets of pipes, with a total of 4,916 pipes! These pipes range in size from just 7 inches (18 cm) to over 32 feet (9.8 meters) long.

According to the cathedral's website, this Skinner organ is very special. It shows the best of Skinner's work and includes ideas from other famous organ builders. The organ is still almost exactly as it was when it was first put in. It is considered one of the most important musical treasures of the cathedral and the city of Toledo. In 2009, the Organ Historical Society recognized it as a historically important instrument. A similar organ can be found in the concert hall at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Restoration Work

In 2000, the cathedral finished a big project to clean and restore the inside of the church. They removed many years of dirt from old heating systems. This brought back the original bright colors and shine of the beautiful mosaic artworks. In the 2000s, the church also improved the outside areas. They re-landscaped the grounds and replaced the stone paths leading to the entrances. These new paths match the style and color of the stone on the church's front. Around the same time, the parking lot got new gates and stone decorations that also match the church. The church also bought another parking lot across the street.

Cathedral's Size

• Overall Length - 285 feet (87 meters)
• Overall Width - 215 feet (66 meters)
• Height from floor to peak - 96 feet (29 meters)
• Normal Seating - 1400 people
• Rose Window - 28 feet (8.5 meters) in diameter
• Tabernacle height - 5 feet (1.5 meters)

People Connected to Rosary Cathedral

• Claude Lagacé, who was the organist at the Rosary Cathedral from 1954 to 1961.

See also

In Spanish: Catedral de Nuestra Señora Reina del Rosario (Toledo) para niños

• List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo
• List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States
• Churches Named for the Rosary