St Mary's Basilica Phoenix
— — Munich stained glass burning in desert noon.
Not only on a wall.
“The oldest Catholic church in Phoenix and the first minor basilica designated in Arizona. The current Mission Revival church was finished in 1914 on the footprint of the 1881 adobe original. Its great gift is a complete set of stained glass made in Munich and installed between 1915 and the 1930s — the largest such collection in the state. Pope John Paul II prayed here in 1987, and afterwards raised the church to basilica.
St Mary's Basilica Phoenix, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Saint Mary's Basilica stands at 231 North Third Street in downtown Phoenix, the parish church founded in 1881 by Franciscan friars and the oldest Catholic congregation in the city. The current building, Mission Revival in style with twin bell towers, was completed in 1914 on the site of the original adobe chapel. It was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1985 — the first basilica in Arizona — and remains under Franciscan care today, serving a diverse downtown parish.
What sets the basilica apart inside is its stained glass: 22 windows produced by the Royal Bavarian Art Institute of F.X. Zettler in Munich, installed in stages between 1915 and the 1930s. It is the largest single Munich-glass collection in Arizona and one of the more complete in the American Southwest. The figures are read against full Sonoran sunlight, which means the colours run hotter and more saturated than the same studio's work in Bavarian churches — the windows do what the desert tells them to do.
The basilica sits beside the Phoenix Convention Center and the Margaret T. Hance Park, with the Civic Space light-rail stop a short walk away. It is open for daily Mass and for guided tours on weekdays; tours visit the nave, the historic sanctuary, and the small museum that holds the chair used by Pope John Paul II during his 1987 visit, when he prayed here and addressed Native American leaders gathered from across the country. There is no admission fee.