St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church (Huntsville, Alabama) explained

Church of the Visitation
Location:222 N. Jefferson St., Huntsville, Alabama
Coordinates:34.7328°N -86.5872°W
Architecture:Romanesque
Added:September 22, 1980
Refnum:80000705

St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church is a historic church in Huntsville, Alabama and is the oldest Catholic church in North Alabama. It began construction in 1861 but was interrupted by the Civil War. The church was completed in 1877. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Description

St. Mary Church was built of limestone in a Romanesque Revival style. The façade is framed by two hexagonal towers; the spire of the north tower houses the bell, and is raised six feet (1.8 meters) above the south tower. The large central double entrance doors and smaller flanking doors are topped by an arched wooden infill panel. All openings on the façade are topped with projecting round stone arches, with the keystones and imposts projecting further. A stone belt course runs half-way up the front. Pilasters climb between the central and side doors and terminate about 5 feet (1.5 m) above the gable roof in a shallow gable wall. Crosses adorn this wall and the two towers. A semi-hexagonal apse is a later addition to the rear of the building.[1] The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bayer. Linda. [{{NRHP url|id=80000705}} Church of the Visitation]. Historic Resources of Downtown Huntsville. National Park Service. June 11, 2014. May 31, 1979. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230501/http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/80000705.pdf. July 14, 2014. dead. See also: Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=80000705|photos=y}} Accompanying photos]. June 11, 2014. https://www.webcitation.org/6QGVP7CPd?url=http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/photos/80000705.pdf. June 11, 2014. live.