by The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ is a show stopper. Who knew there was a stunning French Gothic Revival style cathedral in Newark (Newark!) with not one, not two, but three spectacular rose windows?
At 45,000 square feet, the Cathedral is the fifth-largest cathedral in North America. Initial groundbreaking was in 1898, at which time costs were cut so as to not exceed $1 million; the cathedral as not finished until 1954, by which time the cost had ballooned to $18 million. Oops.
The stained-glass windows where crafted in Germany and are considered among the finest in the world. The 36-foot rose window over the main entrance is the largest in the Catholic Church in the western hemisphere. The 14 bells in the west tower were cast in Italy and tested by Vatican bell experts. The organ has 9,513 pipes. The towers soar 232 feet, taller than Notre Dame in Paris; the copper spire reaches almost 300 feet! This cathedral isn’t fooling around.
