Description

Art critics, architects and the religious community all eagerly awaited the 1997 completion of this golden-domed chapel, the cornerstone of the University of St. Thomas campus. Designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, the final result is a stunning example of what Johnson terms "deconstructionist" architecture. The granite-and-brick chapel's starkly fluid exterior blends in with the rest of the academic quadrangle, and proves a fitting cache for the treasures within. Viewed in the chapel's natural lighting, the 14th-century corpus, concave stations of the cross and other religious statuary attain new dimensions. The chapel's three bells, named after St. Basil and his two siblings, ring on the hour and half-hour during the day. There is no charge to visit the Chapel of St. Basil.