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unusual facts about Polish Cathedral



James Meeks

The church has two locations devoted to worship; the 'Old' Salem Baptist Church, built between 1912 and 1913 is a former Roman Catholic Church that is one of Chicago's historic Polish Cathedrals designed by Erhard Brielamier & Sons, while the 'New' Salem Baptist Church is known as the House of Hope and was completed in 2005.

Lithuanians in the Chicago area

Like Chicago's Polish Cathedral's, these churches were statements meant to recall an era when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania spanned from the Baltic to the Black Sea, having been built at a time when Lithuania was under Russian occupation and incorporating Lithuanian imagery in its decor such as the Vytis to invoke pride in Lithuanian culture.


see also