Thorncrown Chapel and St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church
Thursday, 10th | Depart 8:30am
BTV’s next architecture-focused outing to Eureka Springs will visit Thorncrown Chapel, designed by Arkansas Architect E. Fay Jones. Inspired by Sainte Chappelle, Paris’ light-filled gothic chapel, Thorncrown is 48 feet tall with over 6,000 square feet of glass and 425 windows. The chapel’s appearance evolves constantly as the qualities of daylight change. Then, we visit St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, a unique hillside structure erected in 1880 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1950s, Father Joseph Lauro began extensive interior restoration, enlisting the help of an Italian artists’ society. Under the direction of sculptor Checchi Mario, marble statues were created to grace the church gardens. A side stop will include lunch and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, one of four Arkansas libraries built between 1906 and 1915, using grants from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
