Country United States Dedicated April 30, 1876 Phone +1 912-233-4709 Architect Ephraim Francis Baldwin | Denomination Roman Catholic Height 63 m Added to NRHP 13 November 1966 | |
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Website Savannah Cathedral Website Bishop(s) Most Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
Most Rev. Kevin Boland, DD (Bishop Emeritus) Rector Rev. J. Gerard Schreck, JCD, JV Address 222 E Harris St, Savannah, GA 31401, USA Architectural style French Gothic architecture Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah Similar Savannah Theatre, Owens‑Thomas House, Juliette Gordon Low Histo, Savannah Historic District, Bonaventure Cemetery | ||
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral at 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. It is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
History
The colonial charter of Savannah prohibited Roman Catholics from settling in the city. The English trustees feared that Catholics would be more loyal to the Spanish authorities in Florida than to the English government in Georgia, however this prohibition faded shortly after the American Revolution. The church's congregation was reorganized about 1796. French Catholic émigrés established the first church in 1799 when they arrived from Haiti after slave rebellions began on that Caribbean island in 1791. Construction began on the new Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 1873 and was completed with the addition of the spires in 1896. The structure was nearly destroyed by fire in 1898 but through diligent effort was rebuilt by 1899.
The congregation constructed its first church on Liberty Square in 1779 and in 1811, choose a site on Drayton and Perry Streets for a larger building. Bishop John England of the Diocese of Charleston, which encompassed Savannah, consecrated the new church April 1, 1839. Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Savannah in July 1850 and the congregation began to plan for a new cathedral in 1870 under Savannah's fourth Bishop, The Right Reverend Ignatius Persico. Most Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore, presided at the dedication of the Neo-Gothic sanctuary April 30, 1876. However, the brick structure lacked spires which were not added until 1896 when it also received a coating of stucco and whitewash.
On February 6, 1898, a fire swept the building and left only the walls and towers, however the congregation quickly rebuilt and was able to celebrate Christmas Mass in the new facility in 1899. But again, the structure was not complete and interior decoration took an additional 13 years. The parish undertook subsequent renovation projects in 1959-1965, which addressed heating, cooling and lighting systems and decoration; 1984-1985, to reinforce structural foundations and implement changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council and 1998-2000 to install new roofing, and restore the original interior color palate and decorations.