Queen of Heaven Mausoleum - Hillside, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 51.720 W 087° 54.180
16T E 425053 N 4634848
The world's largest Catholic mausoleum is Chicago's Queen of Heaven complex. It is MASSIVE, with capacity for 30,000 remains, and contains an extensive collection Catholic artwork and statuary.
Waymark Code: WM7BAQ
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 09/30/2009
Views: 5
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"The project was launched in 1954 with an appeal by Cardinal Samuel Sritch to Chicago area Catholics to "purchase a crypt now" and help fund the construction of the mausoleum . Chicago's Catholics responded in remarkable numbers and the Queen of Heaven mausoleum was completed by 1956.
By 1961, a new section, Queen of Angels was added and in 1964, the final section, Queen of All Saints completed the indoor necropolis. The Queen of Heaven triplex mausoleum complex has room for over 33,000 bodies and is about 75% filled. A stunning array of stained glass, statuary and exotic woods greet visitors to Queen of Heaven. The complex also includes a chapel, with crypts lining the the apse and gallery areas giving the chapel area the feel of a modern day version of a European Gothic cathedral. "
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"Queen of Heaven Mausoleum, the world's largest Catholic mausoleum, has one of the largest collections of religious art in the world."
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for an outstanding photo journey, plus good info such as the following:
"The building itself was designed in stages, with the Gothic central wing and its landmark tower coming first. Nothing in my research attributes the building to a particular firm, but it's a fair bet that Detroit architectural firm Harley, Ellington and Day was responsible, as they did the subsequent west and south wings. The central wing opened in spring of 1957, with room for 7,000 burials, 3 shrines, a main chapel and 4 supplemental chapels. Its $4,000,000 construction cost was covered entirely by advance burial purchases.
The central wing was followed in 1960 by the Queen of Angels wing to the south, designed by Harley, Ellington and Day in a slightly modernized Gothic style (HED was also responsible for the Neo-Formalist Resurrection Mausoleum in nearby Justice, IL.) The large exterior statues on the two side wings were designed by sculptor Ferenc Varga of Detroit, and executed by Gaetano and Alfred Roselli, Italian-born immigrants who worked on the Tribune Tower decades earlier.
A third wing, Queen of All Saints, was designed by recently renamed firm of Harley, Ellington, Cowin & Stirton and completed in 1964, bringing the total capacity of the building to 30,000 interments.
45 years later, it's only 3/4ths full, a testimony to its vast size."
The mausoleum contains the remains of Chicago gangsters Sam "Teets" Battaglia, Tony "Big Tuna" Accardo and Paul "The Waiter" Ricca.
(FYI: The adjacent Queen of Heaven Cemetery includes the final resting places of notables such as the children victims of the Our Lady of Angels fire; gangsters "Mad" Sam De Stefano, Tony Spilotro, Joseph Aiuppa; Fr. Jenco (Beirut hostage); George Kirby (black actor/impersonator); James Michels (flag raiser at Mt. Surabachi on Iwo Jima.) Luminaries such as Al Capone and many others are located across the street in Mt. Carmel.)