Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception -- Washington, D.C.

 (CNS photo/Daniel Sone)

Destination: Whether you’ve been there before or have never visited, now is the time to plan a trip to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. With the completion and Dec. 8 dedication of the Trinity Dome, there is even more to see and to learn about our heritage as Catholics in America.
Masses are offered several times every day at the basilica. Check the website (below) for details.
Why to go: The basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America, one of the 10 largest churches in the world. Known for its unique architecture and the largest collection of contemporary ecclesiastical art in the world, the recently completed, 18,300-square-foot mosaic, was designed and installed by Travisanutto Giovanni, an Italian studio founded in 1980. The studio also completed the mosaics for the national shrine’s Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome, Redemption Dome, and for Italian and Hungarian chapels.
The mosaic process began with color drawings to scale, which the studio then blew up to the actual size that would be placed in the dome. After the designer approved the larger drawings, workers cut the paper into 30,000 sections, which were then numbered to correspond with thousands of color shades.
Each part of the mosaic has precise coloring. For example, the blue garment worn by St. Mark the Evangelist has at least 20 different shades of blue in it, and each person’s face has about 30 different shadings.
The entire mosaic is made up of more than 14 million pieces of Venetian glass, called “tesserae,” which the workers hand cut with a hammer to create the right size for the design. For shipping, the pieces filled 60 crates.
(Grand) Kid friendly: Open daily, the basilica welcomes families, and offers free parking, guided tours, a gift shop, book store, cafeteria and more.
Info: Address — Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, 400 Michigan Ave. Northeast, Washington, D.C. 20017
Phone — 202/526-8300
Website — http://www.nationalshrine.com (Find an online tour at the website.)
—  Sharon Boehlefeld compiled this story.
Send Destinations ideas to seasonedobserver@rockforddiocese.org