Cathedral of the Holy Cross

It fills an entire city block in Boston's South End, a brownstone and granite Gothic Revival building that from the outside could be mistaken for a large Protestant church. But step through the doors and the scale reveals itself — the nave is one of the longest in the country, stretching nearly 120 meters toward the sanctuary. The ceiling arches high overhead in warm wood, and the stained glass windows, many made in Munich in the nineteenth century, fill the interior with color when the afternoon light hits right. This was the church of Boston's Irish immigrant community, built with the pennies and dollars of working-class families who wanted a cathedral to match their faith. The marble altar and reredos are ornate without being fussy. On a weekday, you might find only a handful of people scattered in the pews, and the quiet is enormous. Boston's Catholic story — immigration, labor, politics, scandal, renewal — runs through this building like a current. It holds all of it without pretending otherwise.

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston

Style: Gothic Revival