Chicago is full of glorious Polish churches, and one of the finest is St. Hyacinth in the Avondale neighborhood. This building was dedicated in 1921 and designed by the Chicago firm of Worthmann and Steinbach. It is most well known for its interior saucer dome, painted by Chicago artist John Mallin which contains over 150 figures and covers nearly 3,000 square feet (that’s roughly the square footage of a good-sized house). The dome contains images of the Trinity, the Virgin and the great saints of history. Not to be limited by convention, the parish also added an image of Cardinal Mundelein, then the Archbishop of Chicago, their pastor, and several real altar boys. Continuing in that tradition, in the year 2000, the church was carefully restored and an image of Pope John Paul II as well. The church’s high altar shows the Polish Dominican St. Hyacinth experiencing a miraculous message from the Virgin. Any visit to Chicago should include this beauty. This church, and all of the images in the church-a-day series come from the book Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago, available for purchase at the link on the left.

(click on images for a larger view)