by Deacon Antonios, Coptic Monastery of Saint Shenouda

Saints Peter and Paul Church is the largest of three main buildings on the church complex (with an original capacity of 1,100), the other two being the old school building and rectory. The church, built in 1911, was the first of these buildings to be constructed. However, it was the third church to be built for the Sts. Peter and Paul parish, which began as a German community around 1842-43. The first church was constructed in 1842 in the region of the historic Susan B. Anthony District.

In 1907, a movement began to move the church to its current location on West Main Street, then with a growing Italian population. In addition to the cornerstones from the previous churches, several other items were preserved and are still present such as the high altar, the side altars, as well as the three bells in the bell tower, formerly used as a fire alarm for the community.

When viewed from West Main St., the church is a grand, early twentieth-century Italian Renaissance building that follows the form of the classical Italian Renaissance style of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with a design inspired by the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome and a bell tower copied from the tower of Cathedral Lucca in San Martino, Italy. The interior decoration was performed mainly by Prof. Gonippo Raggi, a renowned sacred artist at the time. In addition to some replicas of well-known Italian paintings, some are Raggi originals. For example, on the east side is a large wooden confessional over which is a mural depicting St. Paul before Herod Agrippa painted by Professor Raggi from sketches drawn in Rome while he was studying for his master’s degree.