A spectacular 1914 Roman Catholic church built by the Polish immigrant community that inhabited Pilsen before the Mexican-American community arrived from the 1960s onward. St. Adalbert is one of the finest examples of Renaissance Revival architecture in Chicago — twin towers, a massive interior with gold-painted vaulted ceilings, and stained glass by Franz Mayer of Munich.
The parish is now predominantly Mexican-American and the church remains active. Its scale and ambition — modeled loosely on the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome — reflect the extraordinary aspirations of Chicago's early immigrant communities to build institutions that signaled permanence and civic commitment. 17th and Paulina Streets.