#cathedraloftheplains

7/3/2014 – I was on my way to my sister’s place in Missouri. There are many ways to go, but no good direct route into the southwest corner of the state. I rarely travel along I-70, but after relaxing along back roads in Colorado and Nebraska between interstates, I decided to go that way in the interest of making up time and to stop at a particular town and its main attraction, one I’ve been hearing about from my sister for years. Seems there are billboards every few yards on I-70 advertising some attraction or other to get you to stop in a specific town, or maybe just to keep your mind off the howling wind and rolling plains of Kansas. Victoria Kansas was founded in 1873 by a group of Englishmen and named after their queen. The men planned to tame the Kansas plains. They were followed by a group of Russians of German origin who, unlike most of the English, stayed and dealt with the harsh conditions not unlike the arid steppes in Russia where they farmed. Staunch Roman Catholics, the immigrants first erected a cross as a place to pray, then a small wooden church where a mission priest from Salina came to say mass. After Capuchin monks started serving the community, stone churches were built to serve a growing town. The current church is the second to be named St Fidelis after a martyred Capuchin monk. It was finished in 1911. The exterior is Kansas limestone, which was quarried by augering holes every ten inches, inserting wedges, and splitting the formations-all by hand. Fifty to one hundred pound blocks were then finished by hand and raised into place. Additional stone for finish work came from Indiana and the five ton granite pillars were quarried and made in Vermont. For the building’s 75th anniversary, a new altar made of Italian marble was installed. The church has been nicknamed “The Cathedral of the Plains” and one of “The Eight Wonders of Kansas”.