Description:

This Basilica is an Asheville landmark and its popularity transcends the confines of any specific faith welcoming all visitors to our area.

St. Lawrence’s is an architectural achievement featuring the largest elliptical dome in North America spanning 58′ X 82′. Seeking to understand what exactly this means it was explained that each installed piece exerts equal pressure on itself hence requiring no other support mechanisms. It is awesome to view.

Construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1909. No wood or steel beams were used in construction. Rather, this structure of exquisite beauty and unsurpassed durability is a work of North Carolina granite and a technique by which layers of thin tile collude with layers of mortar enabling curved horizontal building stuctures.

Spanish Rennaissance influence is apparent and reflects the influences of both Raphael Guastavino and Richard Sharp Smith. Both of these men found their way to Asheville to support the construction of Biltmore Estate. Guastavino’s work is legendary and is also found in Grant’s Tomb, the Great Hall at Ellis Island, West Point’s chapel, Carnegie Hall and and New York City’s famed Grand Central Station. After moving to New York from England he encountered Richard Morris Hunt and it was Hunt’s alliance with George Vanderbilt that was responsible for Richard Sharp Smith’s being relocated under the weekly supervision of Hunt to become the resident architect of what is now Biltmore Estate. He is also the responsible architect for much of both the Montford and Chestnut Hill historic districts in Asheville.