Day 1   /   Day 2  /  Day 3

Summary:

Visitors interested in exploring Pittsburgh’s past and present have much to gain from an urban steeplechase to the churches and chapels nestled in the city’s historic neighborhoods. Follow the spires, and you’ll gain an understanding of Pittsburgh’s many ethnic heritages, its residents’ affection for community traditions, and its architectural diversity. Pittsburghers take pride in preserving landmark buildings; when shrinking congregations render buildings obsolete, they creatively reinvent the structures for a new purpose.

Day 1: Morning

Start your tour by checking into The Priory Hotel (1), located on the North Side. Built in the 19th century as a home for Benedictine monks, the building has been transformed into a European-style inn offering gracious personal service to its guests in its 24 elegant rooms.

Your first stop will take you to the Allegheny West neighborhood. At one time, this neighborhood was one on the wealthiest communities in the world, and the residents built a house of worship that reflected their affluence. Amidst the carefully restored Victorian townhouses on Beech and Allegheny Avenues, the Calvary United Methodist Church (2) draws visitors to admire its Gothic spires, gargoyles, and 30-foot-high stained glass windows crafted by the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1890. Still an operating house of worship, the church welcomes the public to join in Sunday morning worship, and it also opens its doors to the public for concert performances throughout the year, as well as during the Allegheny West home tours. Groups are also invited to schedule a guided tour.

Around the corner, take a peek at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church (3). Designed by the 19th century architect H.H. Richardson, this national historic landmark is beloved for its beautiful basketweave brickwork—and its curiously shaped walls, which bulge a bit after years of carrying the load of the steep roof. The building’s rounded corners make this structure popularly known as the “bake oven” church. Although the structure lacks soaring spires, it does include Tiffany glass in the entrance, as well as impressive marble reredos—decorative screens at the back of the altar. The church continues to operate as a house of worship, serving a congregation reflective of the North Side’s diverse community.

In the North Side’s hilltop community of Troy Hill, St. Anthony’s Chapel (4) is said to house the largest collection of holy relics (small pieces of bone from the bodies of saints) outside of Vatican City. The collection was assembled by Fr. Suitbert Mollinger, a Belgian priest from a wealthy family who started his collection as a hobby. He financed the construction of this church with his own funds in 1880. Visitors are welcome to view the collection; the faithful believe that the presence of these holy objects brings healing powers.

Day 1: Afternoon

Two churches of historical interest are located just across the Allegheny River in the Strip District.

“Old St. Patrick’s” Church (5) was constructed in 1936, but it is home to one of the city’s oldest Catholic parishes, founded in 1808 by Irish immigrants. Throughout the Depression amidst the blighted living conditions in the Strip District, St. Patrick’s was a center of activism and advocacy for the underprivileged. The parish was served by Father James R. Cox, who when appointed to the church in 1924, was the youngest city priest. Recognizing the power of media, Father Cox said daily mass on the radio—but he wasn’t just all talk. He ran a homeless shelter and soup kitchen, led a march on Washington to appeal for jobs, and made a brief run for President as the Jobless Party candidate in 1932. While he didn’t secure that seat of power, the residents of “Shantytown” did appoint him honorary mayor.

The church’s stone tower is reflective of its founders’ Irish heritage. Although the parish has since merged with St. Stanislaus Kostka, the church hosts two weekday masses, and the faithful visit the church to reflect in the grotto, which is modeled after Lourdes; or to engage in prayer on bended knees at the church’s 28 steps, which are replicated from the original Holy Stairs in Rome.

Fourth-generation Polish- and Irish-American Pittsburghers still gather to worship at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (6), a historic landmark in the heart of the Strip District. Constructed in 1891 to a design by architect Frederick Sauer, an explosion at the Pittsburgh Banana Company (just across the street) damaged the original bell towers to the church, forcing their removal. This church, which once served immigrant mill workers, now offers daily Mass in the midst of one of Pittsburgh’s favorite neighborhoods for shopping and nightlife.

Day 1: Evening

Up the Allegheny River in the artsy neighborhood of Lawrenceville, visitors can take a retreat from browsing the galleries and antique shops for refreshment at Church Brew Works (7), housed in the former St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Pews have been repurposed into dining booths, the stained glass and stonework of the massive sanctuary remain intact, and the altar area is now home to…well, we won’t spoil the surprise. This popular microbrewery serves up pints of its Pious Monk Dunkel with New American cuisine, which includes contemporary twists on the traditional Pittsburgh pierogie.

Day 2: Morning

Start the break of day in Bloomfield, recognized as “Pittsburgh’s Little Italy.” As you visit a neighborhood bakery for fresh pastries and espresso, you’ll find two churches of note the heart of Bloomfield’s Liberty Avenue business district.

Contrary to what you might expect in Little Italy, the oldest church in the neighborhood is actually the product of the neighborhood’s German heritage. St. Joseph Church (8) was founded in 1872 after years of planning and scaled building efforts by Bloomfield’s German immigrants. As the neighborhood’s population grew, so did the church. The parish purchased additional land and expanded the church in 1887.

The newer of the two church buildings on the block is the Church of the Immaculate Conception (9). The church serves as a vital community anchor for descendants of the Italian-Americans who originally settled here—and as an appropriate backdrop during the neighborhood’s Little Italy Days, celebrated each year in September. The original building was constructed by 1906. In the late 1950s, the original church was demolished; the building used by the parish today was completed in 1961.

By mid-morning, you can set off for the nearby neighborhood of Oakland. Home to three universities, it’s no surprise that the tallest spire in the neighborhood is the Cathedral of Learning (10), Pittsburgh’s own spin on the towers of academe. But there are truly religious buildings worthy of celebration in this neighborhood. Just around the corner, the Heinz Memorial Chapel(11) is one of the city’s most popular wedding spots; betrothed couples will wait as long as two years for a coveted place at the altar of its neo-Gothic sanctuary.

The non-demoninational Chapel’s origins lie with Henry John Heinz, the founder of the H.J. Heinz Company. His will made arrangements to honor his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz, with a building at the University. His children fulfilled his request by commissioning a building reflecting values of education and religion that were instilled in them by their grandmother. The building, designed by Charles Z. Klauder, was dedicated in 1938, featuring carved limestone walls, oak woodwork, and ironwork from craftsmen from throughout the northeastern United States.

Western Pennsylvania’s oldest Jewish Congregation gathers at Rodef Shalom (12), which is now a Reform Jewish community. The congregation originated with German immigrants in the 1840s; as the city’s Eastern European Jewish population grew, so did the temple, and the building location changed several times. Currently, the congregation worships in a building designed by Henry Hornbostel, the architect who designed the first buildings of Carnegie Mellon University. It was completed in 1907 and features a double dome with a Catalan vault, stained glass windows, and locally produced yellow brick. Outside, visitors can explore the Biblical Botanical Garden, established in 1987 for education and research on plants referenced in Bible verses.

Just as today’s Oakland is home to a multicultural population, the neighborhood’s houses of worship represent faiths from around the globe. In addition to Protestant and Catholic churches, the Korean Central Church, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church are located here. A stroll down Fifth or Forbes Avenue and its side streets can introduce you to more holy historic landmarks.

Day 2: Evening

Take a brief visit to Mount Washington, the neighborhood known for a view. Amidst the regal residential buildings of Grandview Avenue sits St. Mary of the Mount Church (13), a Catholic congregation which welcomes visitors to its sanctuary. This Gothic structure, dedicated in 1897, features soaring arches, large stained glass windows, and a radiant interior.

If you ride the Monongahela Incline to and from Mt. Washington (the church just a short walk from the hilltop station), take a front seat in the railcar for a great view of the city and its steeples. A look out onto the South Side flats provides a vista punctuated with domes and spires of churches built by the neighborhood’s growing immigrant laborer community in the mid- to late-1800s. One of the best known and most frequently photographed is St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church (14) best known for its shining golden dome. Built in 1895, this church is the oldest Ukrainian Catholic church in Western Pennsylvania. It remains an active house of worship, and its parishioners gather weekly to make pierogies as a church fundraiser.

But tonight’s South Side stops showcase the reinvention of churches. For dinner and a drink, visit Halo (15). Originally constructed as a Ukrainian Presbyterian church, this 1913 building is fronted with Ionic columns that give it classic style. The building was house of worship for the Cleaves Temple AME Church from 1949 into the early 2000s. Recently renovated, the interior décor and dining are contemporary, with a focus on fresh seafood and “American style tapas with a southern flair.”

Down East Carson Street, the former Bingham United Methodist church has been transformed into the performance and administrative space of City Theatre (16), which presents new work from emerging playwrights and some iconoclastic performances such as the interactive “Late Nite Catechism.”

Visitors during the Lenten season can take part in a South Side Passion Play tradition that’s nearly a century old. Travel uphill from the East Carson Street area to the South Side Slopes, a neighborhood where many street names carry religious relevance, such as Mission, Pius, and St. Michael’s. On Pius Streets sits The Veronica’s Veil Auditorium (17), where community actors have produced the Passion Play “Veronica’s Veil” since 1910. The Veronica’s Veil Players also stage a “Living Stations of the Cross” during Lent.

Two priests from nearby St. Michael’s Parish wrote the play as an American counterpart to the Passion Play of Oberammergau, which has been performed in the Bavarian Alps since 1633. The tradition was launched when villagers pledged to depict the sufferings of Christ is spared from the Black Death. St. Michael’s parishioners make a similar pledge—to St. Roch—during an 1849 cholera outbreak. Once the vow was made, the congregation suffered no further deaths from cholera, an occasion which is observed on “Cholera Day” every August 19.

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