Happenin’
Places › Georgia › Savannah › Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist
Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist

Photo: PalauanReich / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Attractions

Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist

Savannah, GA · SavannahFreeFree; a $3 per adult donation is appreciated

About

The twin 207-foot spires of this 1876 French Gothic cathedral are the landmark you steer by all over downtown Savannah, rising white above Lafayette Square. Step inside and the nave opens into Italian stained glass, Persian-rug marble underfoot, and a series of murals tracing the life of John the Baptist across the apse and walls. Pope Francis raised it to a minor basilica in 2020, and sightseeing is welcome between Masses, with a self-guided tour that lets you read the windows panel by panel.

Highlights

Getting there

222 East Harris Street, Savannah, GA 31401

Related places

First African Baptist Church Attractions

First African Baptist Church

Savannah, GA · Savannah$

Tracing its congregation to 1773, this brick sanctuary on Franklin Square was raised in 1859 by enslaved and free Black members who made the bricks by hand and laid them after…

Tybee Island Light Station Attractions

Tybee Island Light Station

Tybee Island, GA · Savannah$

Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse has guided ships toward the Savannah River since the colony's earliest days, and the black-white-black tower you climb today rises 145…

Pin Point Heritage Museum Attractions

Pin Point Heritage Museum

Savannah, GA · Savannah$

Set inside the restored A.S. Varn and Son oyster and crab factory on the marsh at Moon River, this museum tells the story of Pin Point, a Gullah Geechee community that freed…

More in Savannah

Others worth the drive in this corner of Georgia.

All of Savannah →
Skidaway Island State Park Forests

Skidaway Island State Park

Savannah, GA · Savannah$

Skidaway Island State Park sits on Skidaway Narrows, part of the Intracoastal Waterway, on the island southeast of Savannah. Sandpiper, the trail most people walk, loops a level…

Fort McAllister State Park Lakes & rivers

Fort McAllister State Park

Richmond Hill, GA · Savannah

Fort McAllister, an earthwork on the Ogeechee River in Richmond Hill, south of Savannah, held off seven attacks by Union ironclads. Sherman's infantry took it in about 15 minutes…

Mercer-Williams House Museum Attractions

Mercer-Williams House Museum

Savannah, GA · Savannah$

The red-brick Italianate mansion on Monterey Square was designed in 1860 by architect John S. Norris for General Hugh Mercer, great-grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer, and…

Bonaventure Cemetery Attractions

Bonaventure Cemetery

Savannah, GA · Savannah

Live oaks draped in Spanish moss arch over more than a hundred acres on a bluff above the Wilmington River, shading a Victorian gallery of marble angels and weathered family…

Savannah Historic District Attractions

Savannah Historic District

Savannah, GA · Savannah

In 1733 James Oglethorpe laid out Savannah's first six wards around public squares, with lots for public buildings on two sides and houses on the other two. The plan kept growing…

SCAD Museum of Art Attractions

SCAD Museum of Art

Savannah, GA · Savannah

The SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah holds more than 4,500 works, including the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American art. Its costume collection has couture by Yves Saint…

Part of these collections

Georgia Attractions45 places

Georgia Attractions

Nearly half of these Georgia attractions are in two cities, 14 in Atlanta and eight in Savannah. Some of the rest take ten minutes, like the 56-foot Big Chicken on Cobb Parkway or the oak in Athens that legally owns itself.