You are here

Eastern Pennsylvania » The Piedmont » Northampton County » Bethlehem » Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Infancy

Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Infancy

-A A +A
1886, Edwin Forrest Durang. 312 E. 4th St.

Although the Irish parish was founded in the 1860s, the church dates from 1886. It was designed by the chief architect for the Philadelphia diocese. The large Latin cross–plan, Victorian Gothic structure is built of Trenton sandstone and includes stepped buttresses along the length of the nave and a soaring spire centered on the entrance that rises just over 196 feet to the top of the cross. The facade features towers at the ends of the side aisles flanking the familiar triple-arched entrance. Unusually, the church does not have a rose window on the gable end, instead a tall lancet window lights the nave. At each side aisle tower, four smaller lancet windows are located atop the lower entrance arch. A striking white altar retable is the interior's most distinguished feature.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
×

Data

What's Nearby

Fritz Laboratory
Chandler-Ullmann Hall (Chemistry Laboratory)
Packer Chapel (Packer Memorial Church)
Lucy Packer Linderman Library
Bethlehem Steel Corporation General Office Building

Citation

George E. Thomas, "Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Infancy", [Bethlehem, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-NO39.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 2

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 284-284.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,