Image: Historic All Saints Catholic Church Stuart Iowa

Description: All Saints Catholic Church is one of a very few Byzantine-style churches in the midwest. The stones are hand-carved limestone. In 1995, a lone arsonist, consumed by hate for the Catholic faith, set fire to the historic building, nearly destroying it. In the months that followed, the parish council elected to build a new structure outside the city. The rare Byzantine structure is one of very few found in the Midwest. Designed by Boston architects Maginniss and Walsh, the church was loosely modeled after St. Marks in Venice, Italy. The magnificent interior was created in the Italian Baroque tradition. Four hand-painted frescoes adorned the arched ceilings. The altars were of Italian marble and the windows were ornate stained glass, created in the renowned Meyer Studios in Munich, Germany. Hand carved limestone blocks formed the walls. The copper dome reached 90 feet into the air, a beacon calling travelers off Interstate 80 for years. The church served as a gathering place as well as a tourist attraction for the small rural community. Voted "Most Beautiful Church in Iowa" by Des Moines Register readers, it truly was an exquisite place for worship. Architects and architectural engineers who surveyed the structure after the fire agreed that the walls of the structure remained sound and that the interior could be restored. Project Restore is dedicated to making that dream a reality.
Title: Historic All Saints Catholic Church Stuart Iowa
Credit: Own work
Author: Phoenix097
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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