Look for a striking red-brick church with two tall, pointed spires topped with golden crosses, a large circular rose window at the center, and elegant arched doorways-it's standing right in front of you!
Take a deep breath and imagine yourself back in the wild Colorado frontier of 1873. Horses clatter on dirt streets, and Catholic families gather wherever they can-barns, back rooms, and borrowed spaces. There’s barely a building in sight, yet they dream of something grand. Fast forward to 1888, when a small but determined group pools $3,100-not exactly pocket change back then!-to grab this very slice of land where you’re standing. They hire Pease and Barber, two architects with a passion for Gothic Revival flair. The lower level of St. Mary’s is ready in 1891, but the real magic-the soaring upper church-takes another seven years. Time well spent, because in 1898, this cathedral bursts onto the Colorado Springs skyline with its pointed arches and intricate stonework. As the sun sets, you can almost hear workers in the early 1900s, scrambling up ladders to add those bell towers and finish the spires. Electric lights flicker on, casting shadows on brand-new Gothic arches and windows. In 1916, music lovers rejoice-a mighty pipe organ fills the sanctuary with thunderous notes.
But St. Mary’s isn’t finished changing. Stained glass windows-each one a splash of color-are added in the 1920s. The grand rose window you see now got a makeover in 1930, so it shines like a jeweled eye watching over downtown. Then, in 1983, Pope John Paul II picks St. Mary’s to be the new seat of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and Bishop Hanifen is installed with all the pomp and circumstance you’d expect.
Renovations come again, and by the 2000s, St. Mary’s looks fresher than ever, with a new entrance, gathering plazas, and meeting spaces. And fun fact-this cathedral even makes a cameo in a video game, Horizon: Zero Dawn, where its ruins hint at mysteries of the past. St. Mary’s truly is the heart and soul of Colorado Springs’ story, echoing with the voices, prayers, and yes-probably a few off-key organ notes-of generations gone by.
