For more than a century, a mystical, diffused light known as the lumiere mysterieuse emanated from 24 skylights, filling the sanctuary of the Basilica of the Assumption.
But the skylights in the basilica's Great Dome were sealed during a renovation in the 1940s, leaving it a darker, more subdued place of worship.
Now, as part of a multimillion-dollar restoration of the nation's first Roman Catholic cathedral, workers are peeling back the copper sheeting of the Great Dome of the basilica on Cathedral Street and are installing the first four reproductions of the original skylights. The project will partially re-create the vision of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
The restoration, when it is completed by 2006, in time for the bicentennial of the start of the basilica's construction, will radically alter its interior. The stained-glass windows will be replaced with clear glass that will let in sunlight. A white marble floor will be installed, and the pews will be white. The marble communion rail will be replaced with one made of mahogany - all part of the cathedral's original design.
The result will be a significantly brighter interior, which was the intent of Latrobe and John Carroll, the first archbishop of Baltimore.
"The aim of the restoration is to restore the light to the basilica," said Robert J. Lancelotta Jr., executive director of the Basilica of the Assumption Historic Trust, which is raising funds for the work.
Carroll intended the cathedral to be a symbol of the religious freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights. "That's why there were skylights, letting in the natural light. That's why the clear windows. The light was a symbol of freedom," Lancelotta said.
Latrobe, the architect of the U.S. Capitol, originally wanted to build the cathedral in a neo-Gothic style, like the great cathedrals of Europe. But Carroll, wary of arousing simmering anti-Catholic sentiment, didn't want a building that would call to mind the powerful and grandiose churches of the Middle Ages.
"It had to be light, up to date and very evocative of the ideas of the new republic," said John G. Waite, architect designing the restoration. It had to be in the neo-Classical style, like Latrobe's design of the Capitol.
"Very firmly, but gently, he persuades Latrobe that this is the way to go," Waite said.
