History & Significance
Basilica · Est. Parish founded 1795; present church cornerstone 1826, dedicated 1827
The Basilica of Saint Mary, in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is the oldest Catholic parish in Virginia, founded in 1795 by Francis Neale, then president of Georgetown College, with an early building fund to which George Washington contributed. The parish moved to its present 310 South Royal Street site in 1810, and the cornerstone of the current church was laid in 1826, with dedication in 1827. As Irish immigration grew in the 1840s, it became the mother church of numerous Virginia missions. On December 6, 2017, Pope Francis designated it a minor basilica, the first in the Diocese of Arlington, which it serves.
Gothic Revival
- •Oldest Catholic parish in Virginia, founded in 1795 by Francis Neale of Georgetown College
- •Designated a minor basilica by Pope Francis on December 6, 2017 (inaugurated September 8, 2018)
- •First minor basilica in the Diocese of Arlington and in Northern Virginia, which it serves
- •George Washington contributed to its early building fund
- •Became the mother church of numerous Virginia Catholic missions amid 1840s Irish immigration
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