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The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Catholic chapel built into the buttes of Sedona, Arizona. It was inspired by the vision of Marguerite Brunswig Staude. She’d imagined a cross superimposed on the newly constructed Empire State Building in 1932 and set out to build the grand chapel of her dreams.
After a failed attempt to build the chapel in Budapest, Staude set her sights on her home town of Sedona. She chose a site within Coconino National forest and had to obtain a special-use permit from the Secretary of the Interior to build there.
It took 18 months to build the chapel at a cost of $300,000. It was completed in 1956. The 11 acres on which Holy Cross sits is still owned by the US Forest service, but is managed by the local Roman Catholic Diocese.
It’s a simple, humble structure set in a majestic backdrop. It is too small to host regular services, so it serves as a non-denominational shrine for the thousands who visit it each year.
To see my other Sedona posts, click below:
- Devil’s Bridge
- Bell Rock (coming soon)
- Chapel of the Holy Cross
Location: 780 Chapel Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336
Designation: National Historic Landmark
Date designated or established: October 6, 2011 (added to NRHP)
Date of my visit: August 23, 2014
