The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Lafayette Square, 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is the Mother Church from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
Savannah’s colonial charter prohibited Catholics from settling in the city. English trustees feared that Catholics would be more loyal to Spanish authorities in Florida than to the English government in Georgia, but this prohibition disappeared shortly after the American Revolution. The church’s congregation was reorganized around 1796. French Catholic immigrants established the first church in 1799 after fleeing Haiti following the slave revolts that began on the Caribbean island in 1791. It became the main church. for free blacks from Haiti in the early 19th century. Construction of the new Cathedral of St. John the Baptist began in 1859. The building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1898, but through diligent efforts was rebuilt by 1899. The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist was the first building in Georgia built of brick. It has 81 stained glass windows, 16 gargoyles, is 214 feet tall with a roof height of 96 feet, it took over 90,000 copper nails and 45,000 slates to build.
The Congregation built its first church on Liberty Square in 1779, and in 1811 chose a site at Drayton and Perry Streets for a larger building. Bishop John Ingland of the Diocese of Charleston, which included Savannah, consecrated the new church on April 1, 1839. Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Savannah in July 1850, and the congregation began plans for a new cathedral in Lafayette Square in 1870 under the leadership of the fourth Bishop of Savannah, the Venerable Ignatius Persico. The Most Reverend James Roosevelt Bailey, Archbishop of Baltimore, presided at the dedication of the neo-Gothic-style sanctuary on April 30, 1876. However, the brick structure lacked spires, which were not added until 1896, when it was also covered with stucco and whitewash.
On February 6, 1898, a fire engulfed the building and left only the walls and towers, but the parishioners quickly rebuilt and were able to celebrate Christmas Mass in the new building in 1899. The unfinished and interior decoration took another 13 years. Around 1904, stained glass windows were installed. The parish underwent renovations from 1959-1965 to address heating, cooling, lighting and finishes; 1984-1985 to strengthen the structural foundations and make changes suggested by the Second Vatican Council and 1998-2000 to install a new roof and restore the original color palette and interior decorations.