St. Anthony of Padua RC Church - Table of Contents ................,,,,,,,,, Houses of Worship - Table of Contents
St.
Anthony of Padua RC Church - Table of Contents
................,,,,,,,,,
Houses of Worship
- Table of
Contents
St.
Anthony of Padua RC Church
160
Court St. at S. Elmwood, Buffalo, NY
| Erected: | 1891 |
|
Architect: |
Michael
Sheehan 1904 renovation - Albert A. Post |
|
Exterior style: |
Romanesque
Revival, based on basilica
form |
| Interior
style: |
Renaissance
Revival |
| St.
Anthony of Padua R.C. Church was founded in 1891 by
Father Antonio
Gibelli of the Missionary Fathers of St. Charles
Borromeo to provide
for the religious well being of the large number of
Italians immigrants
settling in Buffalo, NY during the 19th century. The parish quickly became the social center the of the city's 20,000 plus Italian population. Within a year, Gibelli had established the first Italian language school in the United States. - Camerata
di Sant'
Antonio (online June 2011)
|
| The
original
two-storey building housed, on the ground floor, the
first
Italian Catholic bilingual school in the United
States, while the
worship area was on the upper floor. The church was renovated in 1904 when the sanctuary was extended and niches to patron saints were added. The plaster ceiling with recessed caissons and rosette is the work of Cesare Antozzi. The original domed steeple on the crest of the facade was replaced in 1904 by the present tower with a clock and a bell named after St. Joseph, both donated by Alfonso Bellanca, a pioneer in the Italian community. The mechanical pipe organ, built in 1889 by the Hook and Hastings Co. of Boston, MA and formerly in the Plymouth Baptist Church, Buffalo, was installed in 1911. - Cultural
Niagara (online June
2011)
|
 |
|
2008
photos
Facade  Romanesque style building In 1904, as the size of the congregation had grown tremendously, it became necessary to enlarge the church. At that time, the school space on the first floor of the building was relocated and the dividing floor removed to allow the sanctuary to occupy the entire building. On the exterior, the steeple, originally an octagonal cupola topped by a bronze dome, was relocated from the center of the building to its current location at the northwest corner.   Belfry  Belfry  Belfry  Latin cross finial Pedimented gable with ornamental dentils  First story: Romanesque arches (Ohio sandstone) over entrances and windows A stone base marks the line between the original school portion of the building and the second floor sanctuary.  On facade side bay, one of two semielliptical windows capped by keystone , brick voussoirs, and pediment supported by paired ancones  Corinthian pilasters (Ohio sandstone) Capital: Fleuron (small flower), Volutes Two rows of acanthus leaves Running bond brick pattern  Corinthian pilaster capital: Pair of fleurons (small flowers) at top, four pairs of spiral volutes, and two rows of acanthus leaves  Cornerstone:
Church erected in 1891
 Cornerstone: Church enlarged in 1904. In 1904, as the size of the
congregation had grown tremendously, it became
necessary to enlarge the church. At that time, the
school space on the first floor of the building
was relocated and the dividing floor removed to
allow the sanctuary to occupy the entire building. |
2008 photos East Elevation  Modified (no apse) basilica shape South and east elevations  2018 Photo   Corinthian pilasters Detail below:  |
