St. Francis de Sales RC Church - Table of Contents

St. Francis de Sales RC Church - Exterior Photos
407 Northland Ave at Humboldt Pky, Buffalo, NY
The church was closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese in 1993

Erected:

1926-27
See also: Highlights of Buffalo's History, 1927

Architects:

Dietel & Wade

Style of architecture:

(Italian) Romanesque Revival

Building material:

Indiana limestone

Status:

Buffalo landmark

TEXT Beneath Illustrations



Click on photos for larger size


Cornerstone. Monochromatic Indiana limestone exterior

View from the east. Humboldt Expressway in foreground

Bell tower

 

 

Note bell



Rose window and buttress

Detail


Geometric medieval moldings carved on capitals


Deeply recessed window with compound arch


Rinceau

View from the south: left and rear sides of church

Apse

South side: diaper patterns in windows

October 2003 Interior Photos

North side: buttresses

North side: Rinceau

North side buttresses


This is an Italian Romanesque Revival Church suggestive of churches In Ravenna, Italy. Its campanile, plain exterior wall surfaces, small frontal window, and squarish basilica configuration, all suggest Ravenna.

The church is made of Indiana limestone and its 140-foot tower is easily visible from the Kensington Expressway.

The interior boasts a colorful barrel-vaulted nave, and the aisle and transept windows beautifully illustrate the history of the church through its saints, and the rose window in the north transept contains an impressive portrait of Christ.

As of May 2002, several windows were broken.



Sources:


See also: Buffalo's Houses of Worship on the Internet - Links
Special thanks to Michael Healy who supplied the following information:  Murphy and Olmsted also designed a similar exterior and interior in the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, DC (online photos in August 2017)

Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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