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The construction of the Cathedral of Saint Louis, colloquially know as the “New Cathedral,” was begun by Archbishop John Glennon in 1907. It is located in the Central West End of the city on Lindell Boulevard. The design is a combination of Romanesque style on the exterior and Byzantine style in the interior.

The great center dome is covered with green tile. Two lesser domes stand beside the center dome and pointed twin towers flank the center of the front of the church.

The interior contains the largest mosaic collection in the world. Twenty different artists contributed to the mosaics that cover 83,000 square feet. The mosaic contains 41.5 million pieces of glass tesserae with over 7,000 colors. It was begun in 1912 and finally completed in 1988 – eighty years after the cornerstone was laid. The mosaics depict the life of Saint Louis IX, King of France, the story of the Catholic Faith from creation to the final judgment, men and women of Judeo-Christian history, and recent developments of the Catholic Church in North America particularly in St. Louis.

In recognition of its beauty and historical significance, Pope John Paul II designated it a basilica on April 4, 1997.