While we don’t need anyone to tell us how beautiful our basilica is, it’s nice of TripAdvisor to let the rest of the world know that the Basilica of St. Josaphat, 2333 S. 6th St., is a gem worthy of a visit.
The church is one of 20 in TripAdvisor’s article, "America’s 20 Most Beautiful Churches, Cathedrals & Basilicas Worth Visiting," alongside some absolute stunners like "Memorial Presbyterian Church" in St. Augustine, Florida; the Byodo-In Temple in Kaneaohe, Hawaii; Trinity Church in lower Manhattan; and Tucson’s Mission San Xavier del Bac.
When TripAdvisor does an article on the most beautiful churches built from the materials salvaged from an old post office, St. Josaphat will be top of the list (and, maybe, the only one on it).
"The Basilica of St. Josaphat decorates Milwaukee’s skyline with a massive copper dome, stained glass windows and ornamental accents," notes the article, which you can read in its entirety here.
"The church remains a stronghold of Wisconsin’s Polish history and daily Catholic Mass keeps the space a thriving spiritual hub."
You can follow my path up to the lantern atop the dome in this article, and learn more about some more recent restoration work here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
