(Where Gumbo was #427)
Gumbo was visiting a pretty small church in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a Catholic church. Congratulations to Professor Abe and George G, who solved where we were at.
St Elizabeth’s Church has become a landmark in Eureka Springs, a small but quaint town in the Ozarks. The church is listed on the National Historic Register. It has a unique unattached Bell Tower, through which you enter the property and descend down a path to the main church building.
The Catholic church in Eureka Springs was founded by Father Michael Smythe, a missionary priest who traveled through the region around 1880. He started construction of the first church, a frame building completed in 1882. For 20 years priests would visit the church during their monthly trips into Northwest Arkansas.
St Elizabeth sits near the old church site, close to the grounds of a large hotel, the Crescent Hotel, built by Richard Kerens and his affiliates. In 1904 Mr. Kerens built a Memorial Chapel near the hotel in memory of his deceased mother, Elizabeth. After discussions with Catholic officials, Kerens added the church building and the pre-existing chapel became its vestibule. St. Elizabeth’s was dedicated in 1909 and has been in continuous use to this day.
The exterior was built out of a local dolomite limestone commonly used in the region — a pretty stone, I thought. Kerens imported marble altars and mosaic flooring from Italy.
The building deteriorated because of improper interior heating and was remodeled in the 1950s by Father Joseph Lauro, who did extensive restoration to the interior of the church and constructed a stone rectory at its rear. He then enlisted the talents of Italian artists who executed the marble statues in gardens of the church (some of them shown below):
Father Lauro also originated the plan for the Stations of the Cross, in white Carrara marble sculpted in Italy, which are arranged on the wall beside the ramp leading from the Bell Tower to the church’s door. The stations were installed in 1958. Some photos of the stations are shown below:
As you begin your walk down the stairs below the church, you’ll see a marble statue of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, shown below. She has a busy portfoli, being the patron saint of the bakers, beggars, brides, charities, death of children, homeless people, hospitals and widows.
You enter through the heavy wooden doors of the old chapel, with an interesting domed roof.
While small, the interior is pretty, with lovely stained glass windows.
Not a fancy church like you’ll see in Europe, but I can understand why this spot has found a place in the heart of the town’s residents.
What are the people of Eureka Springs like? I think the memorial from the church’s garden shown below says a lot about them.
