Cathedral of Saint Helena

Gothic Revival Catholic cathedral funded by gold-rush millionaires

The Cathedral of Saint Helena is one of the finest Gothic Revival buildings in the American West, and it stands out even more strikingly for being in a city of 35,000 in Montana. Construction began in 1908 and wasn't completed until 1924, following designs modeled closely on the Votive Church in Vienna. The twin towers rise 73 meters above Lawrence Street and are visible from much of the city. Inside, the nave is lined with 59 stained-glass windows imported from Bavaria, and the overall effect — marble floors, soaring vaulted ceilings, rich color from the glass — is genuinely impressive.

The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Helena and remains an active parish. Visitors are welcome when services aren't in session. Walk around the exterior first: the stonework and the proportions of the west facade reward attention. Then step inside, give your eyes a moment to adjust, and look up. For a building of this scale and quality in this setting, it's a remarkable thing.

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A story
Helena's gold-rush wealth funded more than private mansions. The Cathedral of Saint Helena was made possible by a handful of copper and gold millionaires who wanted something that would announce to the world that this rough mining town had arrived. They sent their architects to study the Votive Church in Vienna, and the result — twin towers rising 73 meters above the neighborhood — made good on that ambition. The cathedral's completion in 1924 came decades after the gold played out, which gives it a slightly elegiac quality: a monument to prosperity that had already peaked.

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