The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist

It is hard to believe looking at this grand architectural marvel today, but when Savannah was first founded, Roman Catholics were strictly forbidden from settling here. The English trustees who ran the colony were completely paranoid. They feared that Catholic settlers would be secretly loyal to the Spanish authorities down in Florida rather than to the English crown right here in Georgia. That early prejudice finally faded after the American Revolution. By 1799, French Catholic refugees fleeing uprisings in Haiti established the first real church here, which eventually became a spiritual home for free Black Haitians in the early nineteenth century. But getting to the magnificent building you are standing in front of took some serious maneuvering. In the 1870s, Bishop Ignatius Persico orchestrated a strategic land swap with the Sisters of Mercy, trading away another diocesan lot just to secure this prime footprint. And here is the genuinely funny quirk of history. After all that political wheeling and dealing to build the new Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, when the doors finally opened, it was dedicated as Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It kept that completely different title for about ten years before quietly reverting to its intended namesake. This building perfectly captures the constant push and pull of Savannah... a place constantly striving to cement its legacy, even when tragedy strikes. In 1898, a terrifying fire ripped right through the sanctuary. Imagine the crowds of locals standing helplessly in the square right behind you, watching the intense heat cause the walls to crumble and the original stained glass windows to explode into shards. When the ash settled, almost nothing was left but the outside brick walls and those two newly constructed spires. But the congregation refused to let their legacy become a pile of rubble. Take a peek at your screen to see the breathtaking sanctuary they built from the ashes. The brilliant light you see filters through eighty one masterful stained glass windows imported from the Austrian Tyrol. The soaring Neo Gothic design... an architectural style known for pointed arches and cross ribbed vault ceilings... was intentionally built to draw your eyes upward, making you feel closer to the divine. While the vintage streetlamps and vehicles of 1936 have long since been replaced, the towering French Gothic spires of Savannahs beloved cathedral remain a timeless fixture of the historic district. If you want to experience those slack jawed stares for yourself, the cathedral welcomes visitors daily from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.