Holy Cross Shrine, Pfeifer, Kansas

After visiting the Garden of Eden again, we decided to check out another of the wonders of Kansas.  We headed over to Ellis County and the small town of Pfeifer.  It is there that the original Volga German settlers constructed a beautiful Gothic-style church.  The Holy Cross Shrine won the honor of being one of the eight wonders in the field of architecture because of its beautiful Gothic design.  

Construction of the church began in 1915 and it was dedicated on May 3, 1918. 

I took a picture of a copy of the brochure 

that was inside the church.

It is a shame that this amazing church was built in Pfeifer because the town never did grow and right now the population stands at less than 50 people.  The church was closed by the Diocese in 1993 and the community joined together to form Holy Cross Charities, Inc., a corporation which was set up to preserve the historic building as a monument to the hard work of those early German settlers. 

The church features a rib-vaulted ceiling which is supported on delicate columns and pointed arches for the windows and doors.

The Main Altar

This church also contains many beautiful stained glass windows.

Replica of the Pieta

Above and below are the side altars

The baptismal font

Looking at the front entrance to the church from the altar.

Window above the main entry

I'm standing right inside the front door of the church.  There are a couple of ways to get up to the balcony that are down the hall.

It was quite a drive over to Pfeifer to see the church and we wanted to see the cemetery also because it is full of Iron Crosses, however, we absolutely could not find it and there wasn't a "soul" around anywhere to tell us where to go.  Lee has since found it using Goggle Earth but we never would have found it just wandering around.

For more info on this church, see:
http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/architectureresults.php?id=48