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The Basilica of the National Shrine

of the Immaculate Conception

This basilica is said to be the largest Roman Catholic Church in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The splendid Crypt Church has been in use since the late 1920s; the Great Upper Church was dedicated in 1959. The shrine is Neo-Byzantine in style and structure. There is no steel skeleton or framework; it is made entirely of stone, brick and concrete.

The shrine houses a large collection of comtemporary mosaics. Memorial tablets cover the walls and columns of Memorial Hall where the coronation tiara of Pope Paul VI is displayed. Open daily 7am-7pm in the summer months. Hours vary the rest of the year, call ahead for times.

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