I came across this giant church just off of Route 13 in Belleville, tucked back in a neighborhood of ranch houses.
Tag: Belleville
Signal Hill, West Belleville
I finally made it over to Signal Hill, which sits in the undulating landscape of the bluffs that tower over the American Bottom opposite St. Louis. A wonderful, eclectic mix of houses greets the visitor.
Granview Drive, Western Belleville
Granvue Drive overlooks the bluffs that rise up above the American Bottoms, right at the far southeast corner of East St. Louis where Belleville touches its neighbor to the northwest. Stately houses, such as those seen in Webster Groves or Clayton, line the narrow street just off of Main Street.
Christ the King Chapel, Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows
Update: See more of the mosaics in this post from February of 2021. The Christ the King Chapel sits one floor below the Mary Chapel, and since the shrine is built into a natural amphitheater, opens onto a back parking lot. The decorative scheme seems to show the Stations of the Cross. I am not…
Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Revisited
Update: See more of the mosaics in this post from February of 2021. I was in the neighborhood, so I stopped by the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, without snow like the last time I was there. It’s a great building, and is always deserted when I visit.
Cathedral of St. Peter, Belleville
The Cathedral of St. Peter, the head church of the Diocese of Belleville, sits to the south of downtown. It is a Gothic Revival edifice, but with some interesting (strange?) Modernist renovations. Perhaps what is most notable is the lack of a transept, which usually takes the form of two wings protruding across the crossing,…
Adam Gintz House
Update: Demolished at some point before June of 2019, when I revisited the site. Adam Gintz, the founder of the Western Brewery of Belleville (not to be confused with Adam Lemp’s Western Brewery) lived in this house before moving up town in 1895. It is one of the few remnants of the Stag Brewery ever…
Belleville, Sidestreets
Update: I revisited the intersection in the spring of 2019. Belleville is not just some suburb of St. Louis; it has long been the county seat of St. Clair County, the seat of a bishop and has its own unique architectural style, while similar to St. Louis, has noticeable differences. The storefront above, originally a…
Downtown Belleville
Downtown Belleville shows the signs of a central business district that never hit the skids; it is well-occupied, and with numerous slip-covers from the 1950’s and 60’s, it shows that owners updated their buildings frequently over the years. The Lincoln Theater is a standout; its architecture an interesting mix of Beaux-Arts with other eclectic details….