The Basilica of Saint Hyacinth () is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, located at 3636 West Wolfram Street in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is a prime example of the Polish Cathedral style of churches in both its opulence and grand scale. Along with such monumental religious edifices as St. Mary of the Angels, St. Hedwig's, and St. Wenceslaus, it is one of the many monumental Polish churches visible from the Kennedy Expressway. History Founded in 1894 by Resurrectionsists from the city's first Polish parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. Hyacinth became the center of Chicago's most well-known Polish Patch, Jackowo. The parish has been intimately tied in with Chicago's Polish immigrants, particularly those who arrived in the Solidarity and post-Solidarity waves of Polish migration to Chicago in the 1980s. On June 26, 2003, Pope John Paul II granted the designation of minor basilica, the third church in Illinois to achieve this status. On November 30, 2003, Cardinal Francis George , officially proclaimed St. Hyacinth Church a basilica of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Neighboring St. Wenceslaus parish was founded in 1912 as a Polish parish to relieve overcrowding at St. Hyacinth parish. The 1999 film Stir of Echoes was partly filmed at St. Hyacinth Basilica. Architecture The church was designed by the architectural firm of Worthmann & Steinbach who built many of the magnificent Polish Cathedrals in Chicago. The church structure—a red-brick edifice in the classical revival style—has an ornate interior of Baroque influence. Groundbreaking occurred on April 30, 1917, and the cornerstone was laid on October 21, 1917. Completion of the building was delayed for years by financial and construction difficulties, with the first Mass celebrated in the structure not taking place until August 7, 1921. Official dedication occurred on October 16, 1921, with Archbishop Cardinal George W. Mundelein presiding. St. Hyacinth's recognizable three-towered façade is rarely seen in American church architecture as well as the Baroque period that its style is modeled on. The church bells are a product of the McShoe Bell Foundry of Baltimore, Maryland were blessed and placed in the steeples in April 1924. St. Hyacinth's bears a striking similarity to St. Mary of the Angels, which was designed by the same architects at about the same time and use the same combination of stone, glazed terra-cotta and brick. Also like at St. Mary of the Angels, much of