Basilicas in Switzerland

I blogged about the following basilicas on April 1, 2021.

Territorial Abbey Cathedral and Basilica of St. Maurice, Saint-Maurice, Valais.
Co-Cathedral and Basilica of Our Lady of Valor, Sion, Valais.

Madonna del Sasso Basilica, Locarno, Ticino

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XV in 1918.

A Franciscan brother had a vision of the Virgin Mary on this site in 1480 and the church was built seven years later.

Pictures are from Wikipedia.

Mariastein Basilica Abbey, Mariastein, Solothurn

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

Mariastein Abbey is a Benedictine monastery that was founded in 1648 on the site of a 14th Century miracle associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The abbey has closed at various times in history, but has been reopened since 1971. The Basilica, which is the Abbey church, was built using Gothic, Baroque, and Classical styles.

The first two pictures are from Pinterest and the other two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of Our Lady, Fribourg, Fribourg

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1932.

The church was built in 1201 and is the oldest in Fribourg. The church was renovated in the 18th Century using neo-classical and rococo styles. Its 18th Century Neapolitan Nativity features 75 figurines.

Both pictures are from local sources.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Lugano, Ticino

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1952.

A chapel was built on this site in 1726 dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Nepomuk. Pilgrims started coming to the chapel and the current neo-Romanesque church was built between 1922 and 1927.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of Our Lady, Geneva, Geneva

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

The neo-Gothic Basilica was built between 1852 and 1857. The church was closed from 1875 to 1911 due to an anti-clerical government. Pope Pius IX gave the basilica a white Carrara marble statue of the Immaculate Conception. The basilica is noted for its stained glass.

The first picture is from the basilica website and the others are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Holy Trinity, Bern, Bern

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1956.

The church was built between 1896 and 1899 for the Catholics of Bern who were not allowed to worship for over 300 years. The builders of the Lombard Romanesque church wanted to use sandstone but the local quarry owners refused to sell to Catholics. So the builders used granite, gneiss, and Jurassic rock from other areas to construct the building.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

Abbatial Basilica of St. Ulrich and St. Afra, Kreuzlingen, Thurgau

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1967.

Kreuzlingen Abbey was established in the early 12th Century and was dissolved in 1848. The Basilica—the abbey church—was built in a Baroque style in the mid-17th Century. The church was badly damaged by a fire in 1963 and was restored in 1967. Much of the artwork survived the fire.

The first picture is from a local source and the others are from Wikipedia.

Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of Miracles, Morbio Inferiore, Ticino

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1990.

Construction on the church began in 1595 in commemoration of a Marian apparition the previous year. The baroque building was consecrated in 1613.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the last is from a local source.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, Lausanne, Vaud

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1992.

The first Catholic parish in Lausanne since the Reformation opened in 1814 and the congregation built the current Neo-classical church between 1832 and 1835. The Basilica has a 125-foot bell tower and several works of art including a fresco of the Virgin Mary by Tuscan artist, Gino Severini.