Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains
cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, with the title of minor basilica
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains is a Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The cathedral is a Greek Revival structure located at 8th and Plum streets in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to Saint Peter's imprisonment and liberation in Rome.
The cathedral's cornerstone was laid in 1841 by Bishop John Baptist Purcell, who dedicated it in 1845. The cathedral was the first large church west of the Allegheny Mountains. The cathedral was designated a minor basilica in 2020.
History
1826 to 1900
In 1826, five years after Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Cincinnati, Bishop Edward Fenwick dedicated the first St. Peter's Cathedral in Cincinnati. It was located at what is now St. Francis Xavier Church.
“Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains” enters the record as cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, with the title of minor basilica. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cathedral, Basilica and Peter can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cathedral, Basilica and Peter provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q154215. VIAF identifies the subject as 148036641. The Library of Congress control number is no93022006. Authority coordinates are 39.104, -84.519. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1841, 1845, 2020 and 1826.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.