The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest Roman Catholic church in the United States and North America. Stunning art and architecture that rivals the great sanctuaries of Europe. Visited by over a million people annually it has become a place of pilgrimage. There are over 70 chapels and oratories.

This Basilica is located within the picturesque grounds of the American Catholic University. We only had just over an hour at the Basilica and was impressed with its beauty, grace and exquisite detail in all aspects. Byzantine in design, the spaces were adorned with mosaics, marble, and beautiful arches. Constructed entirely of stone, brick, tile and mortar, the Shrine is without structural steel beams, framework or columns.

Its sheer size with chapels reflecting Marian theology and devotion from around the world ensured a spiritual experience for the faithful. The various ethnic representations of the Blessed Mother, symbolic of America's immigrant population, as well as those of saints, biblical and salvific events, ornament and adorn the interior and exterior of the church in a rich display of mosaics, sculptures and artistic renderings.

In 1847 the Blessed Virgin Mother was named patroness of the United States under the title of Immaculate Conception. In 1910 Bishop Thomas J Shahan, rector of The Catholic University of America suggested a building as a national shrine to honor Mary, in 1913 Pope Pius X gave his support, and by 1920 the cornerstone was laid. The exterior level of the crypt was completed in 1931 and the upper church in 1959, although work has been ongoing ever since.

We caught the MET to the Basilica, only having to change lines once, and was pleased we made the effort. I could have spent the entire day here, but an hour was all i had available as we were off to the Washington National Cathedral to meet a friend at 12 noon.

The Bookshop at the Basilica was gigantic, selling everything imaginablevto do with Catholic devotion, artwork, sculptures, etc. I bought a Guidebook on the Basilica to read at a later date and a pair of glitzy cross earings to remind me ofvthe sparkle and ornate mosaics adorning the chapels.