History & Significance
Basilica · Est. Parish established 1846; first church dedicated 1852; present church built 1904-1905; designated a minor basilica in 2012
The Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea is among the oldest Catholic parishes in Florida and the oldest in the present-day Archdiocese of Miami, with its parish dating to 1846 and its first church dedicated in 1852. After the original church was destroyed by arson in 1901, the current Romanesque Revival church was built between 1904 and 1905. Five Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary arrived from Montreal in 1868 to open a school and convent, serving the community for 115 years; in 1922 Sister Louis Gabriel designed the parish's noted Our Lady of Lourdes hurricane grotto. Pope Benedict XVI elevated the church to a minor basilica on February 11, 2012, and it stands as a contributing property in the Key West Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Romanesque Revival masonry church (1904-1905)
- •Designated a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2012
- •One of the oldest Catholic parishes in Florida; oldest in the Archdiocese of Miami (parish founded 1846)
- •Present church built 1904-1905 after the original was destroyed by arson in 1901
- •Home to the Our Lady of Lourdes hurricane grotto, designed by Sister Louis Gabriel in 1922
- •Served by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary from 1868 to 1983
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