The Project sails back to Fishtown to tackle St. Laurentius, a church we first discovered waaay back during our visit to Holy Name of Jesus. Laurentius, you see, is right around the corner from Holy Name. I still cannot truly fathom the practice of putting two churches of the same denomination within spitting distance of each other. And don’t even get me started on Church Alley.
Speaking of Church Alley, St. Laurentius is the second Polish parish we’ve visited, the first being the awesome St. Adalbert. Laurentius is actually the elder parish. With an 1882 founding date and an 1885 construction date, it’s the oldest Polish Catholic church in Philadelphia. Or so say the nifty banners they proudly display on area lampposts.
Despite being slightly older, Laurentius isn’t quite in the same league of Adalbert. Oh, it’s good alright. Like most Polish churches, Laurentius is ridiculously ornamented, with a columned, non-cruciform Gothic design that's beautifully decorated with a pink and blue color scheme and multicolored marble. And where Adalbert settled for vague Eastern-European color swirls on the ceiling, Laurentius goes all-out with detailed, extensive murals. It even has a vaguely similar gold and woodwork monstrosity of an altar.
The church suffers, though, from a smaller size, and an altar that, due to the space restrictions, never reaches the insane heights of the one at Adalbert. Also, the windows are passable, but nowhere near as detailed as its Polish cousin.
Still, this is a great experience.
Size Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 8 out of 10 crosses
