St. John Cantius in Chicago
- Architect
- Adolphus Druiding
- Year
- 1898
- Style
- Baroque
- City
- Chicago, IL
St. John Cantius was built in 1898 to designs by Adolphus Druiding for the "Expatriate Poland" immigrant community settled around Fry and Carpenter streets. In 1892 the newcomers petitioned the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka for a parish of their own, and Fr. Vincent Barzyński of the Congregation of the Resurrection bought the lots that became this church. Its 130-foot tower still rises over West Town as a landmark visible from the Kennedy Expressway.
the building
Kraków-style interior. In 2013 the parish completed a major restoration, returning the interior to a look reminiscent of 18th-century Kraków art and architecture.
Tower over the expressway. The 130-foot tower is one of several Polish parish towers - alongside St. Mary of the Angels, St. Hedwig's and St. Wenceslaus - that announce the city's Polish churches to drivers on the Kennedy Expressway.
the style
The church works in a Baroque idiom, its restored interior evoking the art and architecture of 18th-century Kraków - a conscious link back to the homeland of the Polish immigrants who built it.
More on Baroquethe architect
Adolphus Druiding was a prolific designer of Chicago's Catholic parish churches in the late 19th century, of which St. John Cantius was one commission.
nearby
- John Lathrop Motley Public school
- Polish Museum of America
- Montgomery Ward Company Complex
- The Montgomery
- Elizabeth Peabody Public School
- Holy Trinity Church