Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis
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The Cathedral of St. Louis was designated a basilica by Pope John Paul II on April 4, 1997, and on October 19, 1997, the 150th anniversary of the elevation of the Diocese of St. Louis to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Louis, the Cathedral was elevated to a minor basilica, receiving the name it now bears.
In 1912, installation of mosaics in the interior began. Completed in 1988, it contains 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces applying over 7,000 colors. Covering 83,000 square feet (8,000 m²), it is the largest mosaic collection in the world created by 20 different artists, including Hildreth Meiere.
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The church basement contains a museum dedicated to the mosaics in the church as well as some of the other artifacts found within the Cathedral. Also in the church basement is a mortuary chapel with a number of crypts for former leaders of the Archdiocese. Currently, Cardinals John J. Glennon, Joseph Ritter, and John J. Carberry, as well as Archbishop John L. May are buried in Cathedral.
The Cathedral's Organ
The Cathedral has a large organ that was originally built by the Kilgen Organ Company in 1915. Originally, the organ had two four manual (keyboard) organ consoles, one in the galley with the organ, and another console behind the sanctuary.
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In 1946, Kilgen put a new organ into the Cathedral. The 1946 organ had 77 ranks of pipes, 14 of which came from the older organ. In 1948, an Echo Organ from Carnegie Hall, New York City was installed in the Cathedral. In 1984, the M.P. Möeller organ company refurbished the organ.
In 1997 the Wicks Organ Company of nearby Highland, Illinois began a restoration project. They added more ranks of pipes, which brought the organ to 96 ranks of pipes. The company also added some digital stops to the organ. A new four manual organ console replaced the old Kilgen console behind the sanctuary, and the second galley console was refurbished. Wicks also updated the organ's electronics.
In the winter of 2002 the galley organ was expanded, and a new dome division of pipes was added to the organ. The project has one final step, which is to replace the old galley console with another four manual console to replace a smaller two manual console in the galley. This would allow complete control of the organ from either the galley console or the sanctuary console. This final step is awaiting funding.
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The original Kilgen console was moved into the basement museum, and can be viewed by visitors.
External links
- Cathedral of St. Louis: Home Page (http://www.cathedralstl.org/)
- Links on the Cathedral's Organ;
- The Wicks Organ Web Site (http://organ.wicks.com)
- The Wicks Organ Page on the Cathedral's Organ (http://organ.wicks.com/display_page?p=200&s=stlouiscathedral)
- The Cathedral's Web Page on the Organ (http://www.cathedralstl.org/music/organ.html)
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