- [Announcer] "Holy Pittsburgh" is underwritten in part by the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation.

At the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation, we believe that life is like that of an Oak tree, strong and beautiful, and should be given every chance to grow.

We are pleased to join with WQED in providing personal growth and experience through quality programing to the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

"Holy Pittsburgh" is also made possible by your member contributions.

This program is part of WQDE's Pittsburgh History Series.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] There are holy places in this city that are filled with extraordinary treasures, places where you can see tons of magnificent stained glass by Tiffany, maybe the world's largest collection of holy relics, some of the most unusual fresco since Michelangelo, and a Passion play proudly produced for over 70 seasons.

This program will take you on a tour of some of Pittsburgh's churches, temples and synagogues.

Some of these structures are architectural gems, some are fighting to survive, and others have lost the battle.

Many of them are centers for preserving old customs and delicious traditions.

These houses of worship and the wonders inside them reflect Pittsburgh's strong immigrant spirit, from its founding pioneers to its newest Congress.

We're going to look at many holy buildings and at many people who care very deeply about these places in our city.

(gentle organ music) (lively organ music) Most of the old churches in and around town were built by congregations that came to Southwestern Pennsylvania as immigrants, people from many other parts of the world.

One of the oldest churches around is here, east of the city beyond Wilkinsburg.

It's an old, dark brick church called Beulah Presbyterian.

The borough of Churchill in which it's located was named for this unassuming church on a hill.

The Reverend Jim Long is pastor here now.

- The original church was simply some outdoor pews and a covering over the pulpit.

I've always thought that was a congregation that had its priorities in order.

They eventually built a wood structure, which was burned.

And then this structure was built with bricks made on the site here in 1837.

- [Narrator] Beulah Church's history and archives, as well as the building itself, are taken care of by a number of church members, including Ms. Hazel Burton.

- This building has something that most buildings don't have.

I might tell you of a friend of mine who said that when you come into this building alone, you feel like there's someone in here with you.

(lively organ music continues) - It is a simple place.

I think it says something about the people who built it.

It partly has to do with their sense of frugality and responsibility as stewards of God's resources.

- [Narrator] The people who are still at Beulah today also have a newer, bigger building constructed in the early 1960s.

But the special spirit of the place seems to reside in that old building.

(jaunty music) Today, Pittsburgh's skyline includes some exotic holy structures like these Byzantine domes.

(jaunty music continues) They sit atop St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church over on the South Side.

Monsignor Michael Polloway says the domes on his church are even more significant than he first thought.

- Airplanes use this as a landmark; because many times when I'm outside, some of these planes that fly over, they shoot a spotlight on our church to see whether they're heading the right direction to the airport.

(jaunty music continues) - [Narrator] The church originally had just three domes when it was built in 1895.

Years later, the church was enlarged and five more domes added.

They were reminders of home for many Ukrainian immigrants who came to Pittsburgh to work in the mills.

- [Monsignor Polloway] Our people were not rich, they came to this country poor, they hardly had any money.

What they were able to scrape together, they denied theirselves certain things as far as like for their own living.

They wouldn't have purchased any furniture for themselves because they wanted to give for the church to build a church first and then worry about their own household.

(jaunty music continues) - [Narrator] Parishioners here still work hard for the church; and since 1966, they've become famous for making some of the best pierogis in town.

Only here you say it a little differently.

- Pyrohy.

Pyrohy.

Pierogi, that's Polish way.

Pyrohy, it's Ukrainian.

- [Narrator] It's a kind of small dumpling with four different fillings available.

- [Woman] Cottage cheese, potato, mixed in sauerkraut - [Narrator] And it's really a very simple technique, even in Ukrainian.

(woman speaking in Ukrainian) (group singing in foreign language) All this work, and how many do they make in an average week?

- [Woman] Oh, good grief!

- It's hard to say.

Thousands, thousands.

(laughs) (group singing in foreign language) - [Narrator] And all the money they make selling pyrohy is given to the church for maintenance and upkeep, and occasionally for special items like these modern stained glass doors which celebrate the immigrant experience in Pittsburgh and include a stained glass image of the church itself.

- Well, like I say, we might be a poor parish but we're rolling in dough.

(laughs) (gentle organ music) - [Narrator] In the late 18th century, three congregations were established near the Point when the land near Fort Pitt became Downtown.

(gentle organ music continues) The three oldest Downtown churches are often called the Penn's Grand Churches because the nephews of William Penn granted them each a valuable plot of land.

(gentle organ music continues) The German Evangelical Congregation was probably the first official church in town, with its building at the corner of Sixth and Smithfield.

The group's descendants have had several churches but have moved far in over 200 years.

They now meet at Smithfield United Church, built in the '20s.

Henry Hornbostel, one of Pittsburgh's most important architects, designed this building for them.

(gentle organ music continues) The heirs of William Penn also granted land to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians.

Their churches now stand side by side on Sixth Avenue, Trinity Cathedral is on the left and First Presbyterian on the right.

(gentle organ music continues) The Presbyterian Church, completed just after the turn of the century, is this Downtown congregation's fourth building.

It has been called one of the castles of Calvinism in the world.

(gentle organ music continues) The earliest members here were from Scotland and Ireland.

And the influence of those hard working 18th century church goers has led some observers to characterize Pittsburgh as the most Presbyterian city on earth.

(ethereal choral music) Their minister today is the Reverend Dr. Bruce Thielemann.

- Let us worship the risen king.

♪ Jesus Christ is risen today ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ - [Narrator] An old graveyard, a burying ground, separates First Presbyterian from its neighbor Trinity Cathedral.

(lively organ music) When it was constructed, this spire was the tallest structure in Pittsburgh.

This was the town's preeminent Episcopal Church before becoming the cathedral in 1928.

One might suspect some serious rivalry between two such eminent churches right next door to each other, but the Reverend George Werner, dean at Trinity today, says it's not so bad.

- Well, we kid the Presbyterians that they're denser here than anywhere else.

And they kid me back when our front steps were closed for some construction and we had a sign, "Use Presbyterian steps."

They said that was the first good advice we'd ever given anybody.

♪ Glory, glory Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Glory, glory Hallelujah ♪ - [Narrator] Trinity now shares its facilities with a lot of community groups for special services like this one on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

- [George] The congregation we have Downtown is a fascinating congregation because it includes everything from people who are angry with their clergy out in the sticks, so therefore they come down to the cathedral; we have people who wanna come because it's cosmopolitan, and it's moving, and there's action, and there are things going on.

♪ His truth is marching on ♪ - [Narrator] Amidst the tall buildings and the daily hustle-bustle, holy places like these, as well as First Lutheran on Grand Street and St. Mary of Mercy, remain integral parts of Downtown, places of holy respite from the city.

(truck engine rumbling) Not far from Downtown in the area called the Strip District, amidst the wholesale food distributors and vegetable markets, there's a modest brick church with a long and colorful history, Old St. Patrick's.

(lively folk music) It's the oldest Catholic parish in Pittsburgh, founded in 1808 by Irish immigrants.

The present building is easily overlooked.

It stands at the back of an odd courtyard garden with a number of saintly statues.

(lively folk music continues) The church's only unusual exterior feature is a stone tower in the tradition of the medieval Irish monasteries.

Supposedly, the parish placed a piece of the Blarney Stone into the tower.

(lively folk music continues) The pastor back then was one of the city's most unusual, newsworthy and remarkable clergymen, Father James R. Cox.

He came to this parish in 1923.

Father Brendan Malloy is the administrator there today.

- So Father James R. Cox came, and it was not a parish that was thriving with great numbers.

But I think what he brought to this whole thing of St. Pat's, which is remembered, was a spirit of imagination, a spirit of real faith and devotion which was centered on our Blessed Lady because of his own experience at Lourdes, and bringing that devotion to this Pittsburgh area.

- [Narrator] Father Cox led many Pittsburgh pilgrimages to Lourdes in France because he felt the miraculous powers of Lourdes's water had once helped save his eyesight.

He claimed to be the first priest ever to say mass on an airplane.

He also said mass regularly over WJAS Radio.

- [James] This is Old St. Patrick's Pittsburgh, the oldest Roman Catholic Church in the city of Pittsburgh.

- [Narrator] And on the left side of the sanctuary, you can still see a slot in the wall from where the radio engineer would watch the mass as it was broadcast.

Father Cox was most famous, however, for his work with the unemployed during the Great Depression.

He helped out of work men build a slapdash city called Shantytown along Liberty Avenue.

When you go to Old St Patrick's today, there's not a lot to commemorate the political career of Father Cox, but there are reminders of his special devotions.

When you first walk in, there's a set of 28 marble stairs leading to the sanctuary; they are a replica of the so-called holy stairs which Jesus had to climb to reach the court of Pontius Pilate.

The tradition is that you must ascend these stairs only on your knees, saying a prayer on each step.

There are two other side staircases for those who prefer to walk.

(lively folk music) Knowing how popular and colorful Old St Patrick's once was, Father Brendan Malloy has now put up some signs in the garden, hoping to attract passers-by.

St. Patrick's is still here for mass or just for quiet and prayer and peace.

The very same year that St Patrick's was founded, 1808, this church started as a Sunday school.

(soulful gospel music) Now in the Hill District, Bethel A.M.E, or African Methodist Episcopal, is thought to be the oldest Black congregation in the city.

It was a center for activities during the civil rights movement.

This church is often called Mother Bethel, and one of its related congregations is Bethel A.M.E in Monongahela, Pennsylvania.

♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the earth hear His voice ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪ ♪ Now come to the Father ♪ ♪ Through Jesus the Son ♪ This congregation started back in 1833 when members first met in a log house near the Monongahela Bridge.

- Most gracious Father, we thank thee for- - [Narrator] As the first black church in the Mon Valley, Bethel A.M.E is fiercely proud of its past and its distinguished building, surely one of the oldest in the area built by a Black congregation.

Mrs. Dorothy Katlan, who's been a member here since 1920, says that the old building makes a difference.

- I think it makes us more inspired.

There's something about a steeple.

When you look up rather than down, it seems to do things for you.

And there's something about our church that has deal of love in it.

♪ Give me Jesus ♪ ♪ You may have all ♪ - [Narrator] Bethel A.M.E; like many churches, Black and White, in Southwestern Pennsylvania; has many stories about its involvement in fighting slavery by working with the so-called Underground Railroad.

The railroad in these parts was mostly boats on the river.

And ancestors of Mrs. Charlotte Brown worked with other people in the town to help slaves on their way to freedom in Canada.

- And the little boy would help my great-great grandfather to get adults slaves into a skiff and take them to the middle of the Monongahela River, and a man would come from West Newton over into the middle of the river.

And by night they would exchange these slaves so they could go on in their journey in the Underground Railroad.

- [Narrator] Music is a very big part of every Sunday here.

♪ I was down ♪ ♪ And my soul was despair ♪ Once a year, Bethel A.M.E invites other churches, choirs and gospel groups to join them in a special Sunday of song called Choir Day.

♪ Cares are past ♪ ♪ Home at last ♪ ♪ Ever to rejoice ♪ It raises spirits and it raises money.

♪ Oh, I want to see Him ♪ ♪ Look upon His face ♪ - We had chicken pie dinners on election day, those were the big events.

We've had choir days when the whole church was packed to the gills.

We've had strawberry socials, ice cream socials.

We've done everything honest to make money for this church.

(spiritual choral music) - [Narrator] This church has stood for over 150 years; it's really a symbol of the faith and the perseverance of its members, because a church's survival depends on the people who use it.

(jaunty music) Every church has to raise money.

And several Pittsburgh area churches are renowned for unusual ways of gathering donations.

At Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie, people spend months getting ready for this event.

Michael Capellic is its director.

- What we're doing here today is an annual event that we started in 1966, is a pisanki sale.

Pisanki is the Ukrainian name for Ukrainian Easter egg, it comes from a word that means to write.

So basically what we're doing is we're writing on Easter eggs to make designs.

What we do here is we sell these eggs every year on Palm Sunday, and the total proceeds go to help church every year.

It's our main fundraiser.

- I'll take that one.

- You want this one?

- Mm-hmm.

- [Narrator] It's also a chance for this ethnic church to show off traditional Ukrainian dress and to pass on ancient traditions.

- Are they blown out or are they raw?

They're raw?

- [Man] Dana, do you see any you like?

- I don't see the eggs.

- [Man] None.

- [Woman] You don't see the eggs?

- Yes.

- [Narrator] While the sale goes on, at one end of the church hall children melt bees wax in special instruments called kistka, and they learn the technique involved in decorating the eggs.

- When I cover the white egg with wax, whenever I put it in maybe the yellow dyes, whatever I have white will stay white.

(jaunty music) - [Narrator] Michael Capellic said his parents taught him how to make the eggs.

- [Michael] It just seems that that what's happened with all the children in our parish who are involved with it, they see their mom and dads doing it and of course they wanna try and it just seems that we grow up with it, it's just part of our lives.

(bells chiming) - [Narrator] Old church bells are part of Elmer Beringer's life.

People call him Tuggles.

He often has to climb up the steeple at St. Michael the Archangel Church on the South Side.

- [Elmer] Well, I come up there every time to grease 'em and take care of them, to save the church money.

- [Narrator] A former steel mill worker, Tuggles takes care of things around the church.

He tends the electronic chimes that play in the tower, as well as the clocks and the huge old bells that ring for daily prayers.

- This is the place you come up to, set the bells with the cables, and that, before you pull.

(bells chiming) - [Narrator] Tuggles has lived in this parish all his life, and he's seen it change a lot.

The closing of the steel mills was just one factor.

- I think the churches have been effected more so because young (indistinct) aren't here anymore to keep it coming in like it used to be.

See, everybody around here when I was a kid had six, seven kids.

Up on one street I lived on on, there was 54 boys and only six girls.

And that street was only half a block long.

(bells chiming) - St. Michael's was founded by German immigrants in the mid 19th century.

Sitting halfway up what are called the South Side Slopes, it is positioned like many churches in Germany's Rhine Valley.

The impressive interior includes a mighty Saint Michael stepping on Satan and holding a shield with the German (speaks in German) or who is like God.

But nothing inside the church is nearly so remarkable as the parish's most unusual activity.

- Here's to Bacchus, god of all wines.

Here's the Venus, goddess of life.

Here's to Jupiter, the god of the weather.

And here's the gods that brought us together.

- [Narrator] Every year, for over 70 years, the parishioners of St. Michael's have been putting on this unusual piece of religious theater called "Veronica's Veil."

(organ music) - If this is Rome reward for services rendered, then I too will worship the god of the Christians.

- Away!

You'll die in the arena tomorrow.

(speaking faintly) - Using antique costume, sets and a tableau technique, these people tell the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and its effect on some early Christians.

(organ music continues) (audience applauding) Father Robert George is pastor at St. Michael's.

- The reason why it being called "Veronica's Veil" is the tradition about the woman who came to the face of Jesus and wiped his face, and the impression of his face was left on her veil.

It's not a anywhere in scripture but we hold it as a tradition of the church.

- [Narrator] The traditions of this parish are that everyone gets involved in some aspect of the presentation.

None of the actors are paid professionals, they all have other jobs.

- In real life, I work for Duquesne Light Company in Customer Relations.

I got involved in it two years ago through a friend.

- Yes, I'm a mail man.

I work for the Postal Service.

- I've been in it since I was six years old.

And I've played every female part you can think of, from the little girl, Claudia, all the ways up to Veronica.

- I came up, I was gonna be a soldier, and I ended up hanging on a across.

(organ music continues) - Backstage is just absolute chaos, people running around back and forth.

Sometimes we have a shortage of actors or actresses, and this person fills in for this and this person fills in for that.

And there's a miracle in the play that a little girl is raised to life through the intercession of Christ working through the veil.

(characters speaking faintly) I really think the greater miracle is that the play is performed in the first place.

- While some old congregations like St. Michael's have been firmly rooted in one section of town since their founding, other groups like the people at Rodef Shalom have changed locations.

(gentle music) The city's oldest Jewish congregation, Rodef Shalom now sits in Oakland but it used to be Downtown.

(gentle music continues) Vigdor Kavaler, executive secretary of Rodef Shalom, says at first there were relatively few Jewish Pittsburghers.

- But from 1880 to 1900, a huge influx of Jewish families and the ranks of membership here swelled tremendously.

It was felt that Downtown was the wrong place.

We have been on this site since 1907.

And in terms of where our members live, if we had to choose a site today, we could not find a better one than right here at Fifth and Morewood.

(gentle music continues) - [Narrator] Architect Henry Hornbostel designed this unusual structure for Rodef Shalom.

Dr. Franklin Toker, who literally wrote the book on Pittsburgh architecture, considers this building one of his favorites in the city.

- There's the great bulk of the building, with that square-ish dome which you see for about a half mile, a quarter of mile away in either direction on Fifth Avenue, that announced the building as a great communal structure.

And it is on the edge of Oakland, and so it joins those pompous turn of the century buildings that Oakland was putting up right at that point.

And then finally at the closest point, just when you're about to go into it, you see the menorah and the inscriptions, and you can tell explicitly that it's a synagogue.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The interior of the synagogue is a huge open space.

When it was built, this was the largest masonry vault structure of its kind.

- They wanted to design something to make a statement that we Jews were here, this was our home.

We wanted to offer something beautiful to the city and we wanted to be proud of it.

We did not wanna be tucked away or hidden away, anything.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The scope of the building inside and out; the beautiful stained glass windows, four of them were brought here from the old synagogue Downtown; all work together to make a unique and important building.

And with its yellow Kittanning brick, it's a Jewish house of worship but a very American phenomenon.

(jaunty music) Around the turn of the century, as the physical structure of the city was changing, other congregations moved from Downtown too; some haven't been so successful.

(jaunty music continues) St. Peter's Episcopal Church stood originally at the corner of Grand and Diamond where the Frick building is today.

In 1901, Henry Clay Frick bought the property but he gave the building back to the congregation.

in case they wanted to relocate.

The reverend, Camilla Blessing, says they decided to move the structure itself to Oakland.

- And they moved its stone by stone up here to Forbes and Craft, and lost one stone.

And they had to recover it by advertising a reward, that somebody turned it in and got the reward.

So they got every stone back in place.

(organ music) - [Narrator] Unfortunately, over the years, this section of Oakland has lost most of its residential character, and St. Peter's lost most of its congregation.

So in 1987, Reverend Blessing put up some signs in front of the church to arouse curiosity.

- The great benefit of those signs is, of course, everybody calls us up and says, "You're a functioning church!

When is your service?"

But the meaning of those just came to me one day when I was going up and down the street in Oakland and I noticed that our two of big industries are babies and pizza, and they both deliver; they have signs, "We deliver."

And I got to thinking about the Church, with a capital C, "What does the Church do?"

And so I decided that that would make people ask, "Wat does that mean?"

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] Despite imaginative efforts, the future of this pre-Civil War church is in jeopardy.

The sandstone, blackened during Pittsburgh smokey years, is crumbling.

It costs a lot to heat and keep up a building like this, and the Episcopal diocese has decided the small congregation should move.

- We are really hoping that some miracle will happen to preserve the historic landmark that the building is.

But I suppose reality is that you have to deal with the practical.

And because of that very reason, all of the other pre-Civil War churches have been taken down one by one.

And now nobody really notices 'cause the just... they silently go for practical reasons.

And now we're looking around the city and saying, "Oh my goodness, there aren't anymore."

(egine rumbling) (building crashing) - [Narrator] Churches do get torn down.

On the North Side, the Avery Memorial A.M.E Zion Church was torn down to make room for a highway in the 1970s.

A Greek revival style building, it was one of the first church and school buildings for Black Pittsburghers.

The people in the congregation didn't want the old building to go but they weren't able to save it.

The people at St. Boniface Church were more fortunate.

(organ music) Their building on East Street was also supposed to be torn down for an expressway; but for decades, the parishioners here did everything they could to fight the highway, the state, and even the Catholic diocese.

Their persistence paid off, the highway's path was reconfigured to miss the beloved building.

(gentle organ music) St. Boniface's unusual style of architecture is Byzantine with Romanesque and even Art Deco features.

It was built during the 1920s, but many of the techniques used in its construction are already forgotten crafts.

The parishioners here were able to rally funds and forces enough to preserve its unique features.

All churches should be so lucky.

(gentle organ music) Calvary United Methodist Church on the North Side once had one of the most prosperous congregations in the city.

The members built this elaborate Gothic structure in the early 1890s.

And although covered with soot, the building is admired for many reasons: its two unmatched spires, its elaborate hand carved stone decoration, including what maybe the city's best set of gargoyles who watch over the building with a kind of glee.

The gargoyles and all the carvings were done by a Texan who reportedly wore a 10 gallon hat and worked even on Sundays.

(gentle organ music) The sanctuary seats 800; but the pastor, Reverend William Meekins, says the congregation today doesn't need that much space.

- We average probably about 20, 25 people a Sunday, which is a very diverse type of congregation.

We have everything from a college professor down to those who have learning disabilities or other problems.

But nonetheless, we are one congregation with an intent of trying to maintain a ministry and also maintaining the building.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] Inside Calvary's building are three large stained glass windows considered by many to be the finest religious stained glass ever produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his Tiffany Studio.

(gentle organ music continues) These windows and the church itself are suffering from old age, and the small congregation now works with a group called the Allegheny Historic Preservation Society to see what can be done to help restore and maintain the structure.

Jim Lynn, a member of that group, has a special interest in the Tiffany windows.

- In some places, these windows are three to five inches thick because of all the layering.

And in some of the points, they use large chunks of glass...

I just call it chunk glass.

And those pieces can be three to five inches thick in places.

You're looking at several tons of glass hanging there.

- [Narrator] The windows are sagging from their own weight, and they're suffering from the effects of air pollution and acid rain.

- [Jim] Some of these windows, where there's a nice dark shade, that you've lost some of the detail, doesn't or didn't look like that when they were first installed.

There is enough dirt on there to scrape off and plant tomatoes.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] So there's a lot of work to be done.

And Reverend Meekins points out that there's more here than just a beautiful building.

- Also this church, much like other churches, it's not a museum.

It's here to be used and try to cut down on the destruction that happens because of use.

But the same thing is to use the building as best as we can to serve other people.

(gentle organ music continues) - [Narrator] Just a block away from Calvary United Methodist is Emanuel Episcopal Church, a building which many consider to be one of Pittsburgh's most important architectural landmarks Its modern and monumental simplicity gives it what one critic called a curious, timeless serenity.

(gentle organ music continues) Its architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, was one of America's greatest designers in the 19th century.

He also designed the Allegheny County Courthouse.

The Reverend Richard Koons says this building attracts the architecturally curious.

- The very first day I was here, two architecture students from North Carolina came by in a van.

They were to traveling over the East Coast, as far west as Pittsburgh, I guess, looking at different architectural landmarks.

And we were on their list because it's one of the things that Richardson did late in his life and is considered very significant.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] The interior is simple, with exposed beams in the ceiling and what's called a retable or reredos behind the altar, designed with marble and stained glass.

(gentle organ music) - [Richard] And the Gibson Girl Angels, they were designed after the advertising gimmick, Gibson Girls, of the time.

And they've lost their faces because they didn't have flesh colored stained glass back then, so they had to paint that on.

(gentle organ music continues) - [Narrator] The building is noted for its fine brick work, its Allegheny Avenue wall which leans toward the street.

although it was not designed to do so, and it's unusual nickname.

- [Richard] It's called the Bake Oven Church, and that's primarily because of the shape of the church which looks like an old brick oven.

That was the nickname in the neighborhood.

People still know it as the Bake Oven Church.

- [Narrator] Another building with an unusual shape, but no real nickname, is the B'nai Israel Synagogue in East Liberty.

(Richard chanting in foreign language) Rabbi.

Richard Markovitz says that in the early '20s, the congregation B'nai Israel chose Henry Hornbostel to the work on the design of its synagogue.

(gentle music) The building has modern stained glass windows by Jean-Jacques Duval installed in the '60s.

(gentle music continues) The unusual ceiling, however, was part of Hornbostel's original design.

- This ceiling represents an Iranian motif, a tree of life motif.

And of course this idea of the tree of life is very, very special to the Jewish people.

And since we do harken from the Middle East, there is reason for using such a motif.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Here at B'nai Israel, there's also an unusual motif on the sides of the bema or altar area.

There appear to be two giants Hs - Well, we believe, and it's a guess, really, that since this building was designed by Henry Hornbostel, the Hs stand for HH, Henry Hornbostel.

Because if you would knock on the two pillars, you would find that they're hollow so that they're not weightbearing, they're not a necessity.

- [Narrator] Often architects are inspired when asked to design a house of worship.

(gentle organ music) The Heinz Memorial Chapel on the University of Pittsburgh campus is an often admired work of Charles Klauder, the Philadelphia architect who designed the Cathedral of Learning as well.

(gentle organ music) Built of hand carved Indiana limestone inside and out, the Heinz Chapel is one of the city's most striking holy buildings.

(gentle organ music continues) Marie Bluestone, the chapel's official hostess, knows about the building's architecture.

- This is modeled after but not an exact copy of the Sainte-Chapelle, a little Chapel over in Paris, France.

it's on the Ile de la Cite, the same island as the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

- [Narrator] In addition to giving tours, Mrs. Bluestone also helps take care of the many weddings that are scheduled here.

("Bridal Chorus") - We have as many as six weddings on a Saturday They're spaced two hours apart, so each wedding party has an hour's preparation time.

And they're of all different faiths.

Sometimes we have two Christian clergymen of different faiths co-officiating, sometimes we have a rabbi.

And we do also have civil ceremonies in here.

- [Narrator] Anyone who has a relative who's ever attended Pitt can be married here in gothic splendor.

- Oh, it's so beautiful inside.

And we just loved it.

And I graduated from Pitt, Ron went to Penn State, so we figured we have to do something.

(laughs) - It's exciting to get married in Heinz Chapel, I mean- - It's just, you know, the aura.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] Being nondenominational in nature, Heinz Chapel also has some very unusual and surprisingly secular stained glass.

(gentle music) Instead of saints, these windows are decorated with a mixture of religious and historic figures: people like Grover Cleveland, Abigail Adams and Abe Lincoln.

Leonardo da Vinci stands by a stained glass version of the Mona Lisa.

These transept windows are famous as among the tallest in the world.

(choral music) You can't always tell from the outside of a church what treasures you'll find inside.

One of the most extraordinary churches anywhere is St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale.

Inside St. Nicholas are some of the most striking and unusual murals to be found in any church in the world.

(choral music) The famous Croatian artist who painted these murals, Maxo Vanka, fled to the United States from Croatia in the mid '30s.

He built a new international reputation for himself when he painted the walls and ceilings of St. Nicholas.

(choral music continues) Vanka didn't paint traditional or easy ecclesiastic images, he showed Jesus' mother weeping at the crucifixion, then he echoed the theme of the grieving mother in two paintings at the back of the sanctuary: a scene of European grief titled "The Croatian Mother Raises Her Sons for War" and a scene of American tragedy titled "The Immigrant Mother Raises Her Sons for Industry."

(choral music) There is a dark unsettling painting of Injustice wearing a gas mask.

On the ceilings below the choir loft, Vanka painted war; mixing images of Christ on the cross with 20th century soldiers and a wild eyed Blessed Virgin pushing apart two supposed Christians on a European battlefield.

At the back of the church, there's a fresco of a greedy capitalist at his table ignoring the beggar at his feet.

Legend has it that a prominent Pittsburgh family felt this was a personal attack and offered the Catholic diocese a million dollars to whitewash over that panel, but the offer was refused.

Not all the frescos are so disturbing.

To the left of the altar, just above eye level, there is a scene of life in Croatia; people in traditional Croatian dress, the women have just brought lunch to the men in the fields.

It's a picturesque village, simple rural life.

The nearby cliffs come down to the Adriatic, which flows behind the altar, which includes a statue of St. Nicholas.

And then on the sanctuary wall to the right, you see the Hills of Pittsburgh with its bridges, tall buildings and smoke stacks.

Here, Maxo Vanka painted the parish priest, Father Albert Zagar, who commissioned him to paint these murals.

Behind the priest is a group of Pittsburghers, Croatians who helped build this church.

(ethereal choral music) St. Nicholas in Millvale is an extraordinary place housing unusual artistic vision and a tribute to the people of Croatia.

There's another Croatian Catholic church in Ambridge named Holy Trinity.

On Good Friday in 1989, the pastor's nephew reported that the eyes on the crucifix which had been partially opened before had miraculously closed.

Word of the possible miracles spread fast and tour buses started coming, bringing the pious as well as the curious.

Some people came hoping and praying for a miraculous cure for their illnesses and problems.

It's not the first time that people have come to Pittsburgh for miracles.

Starting in the late 19th century, thousands of hopeful people went to Troy Hill on the North Side to visit St. Anthony's Chapel.

With two towers and a topping statue of St. Anthony, the simple stone front of the building, again, gives no clue about the incredible treasures inside.

(gentle organ music) St. Anthony's houses what may be the world's finest collection of holy relics, tiny pieces of the bones of saints and other sacred objects; they're housed in elaborate and beautiful display cases called reliquaries.

Occasionally, tour groups visit the chapel.

- If you were Christian and you were thrown to the lions, that was a torturous death, it took you a long time to.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] There are over 5,000 relics in this chapel, including several pieces of the true cross, a thorn from Christ's crown, and even a fragment from the table at the last supper.

Some items are dubious.

Somewhere there's supposedly a piece of the manger from Bethlehem, and this jewel from the crown of one of the magi.

But father Richard Mueller says the collection is unsurpassed.

- Bones of the saints.

Most of the relics here in St. Anthony's Chapel are first class relics, that is actually parts of the bone of their saints.

Relics become rather important to the church because they manifest a life which was given for the faith and for the benefit of the church, and God's kingdom, and his reign here on earth in Jesus Christ.

There are quite a few reliquaries around, but probably maybe nowhere in the world 5,000, even in Rome, under one roof.

- [Narrator] All these relics and their impressive housings were collected by one priest, Father Suitbert G. Mollinger, a wealthy Belgian aristocrat who founded this parish.

He gathered these relics from all over Europe; and using his own money, built this chapel to house them.

♪ Jesus stood in desolation ♪ ♪ Giving all he had to give ♪ In 1890, Father Mollinger obtained a set of hand carved, life-size wooden statues depicting Christ's climb up Calvary, what are known as the Stations of the Cross.

He expanded the chapel to house these unusual works of art.

♪ Walked the hill of Calvary ♪ The chapel was completed in 1892.

And when father Mollinger opened its doors, he collapsed and then died two days later.

People continued to visit the chapel and many left crutches, canes and eyeglasses behind as proof of their miraculous healing at St. Anthony's.

Gregory Jelinek teaches at the parish school and sometimes brings his class to the chapel.

- Underneath the statue of St. Anthony, if you look in that case that looks kind of like a tabernacle, does anybody know, from coming here before, does anybody know what's in that special reliquary?

Brian.

- [Brian] His tooth.

- The tooth of St. Anthony.

If you look very closely... Later on you can all come up and get a close look, it's even labeled that it's one of the teeth of St. Anthony.

(gentle organ music) - [Narrator] Obviously, St. Anthony's is now one of the most beautiful and unusual holy buildings in Pittsburgh.

Its restoration and preservation in the 1970s resulted from care and hard work by many devoted parishioners, some of whose ancestors came here to Troy Hill in the 19th century.

Not all of Pittsburgh's immigrants came here so long ago.

(group singing in foreign language) Just east of Pittsburgh, in Monroeville, a group of immigrants, mostly from India, have built a holy structure which they call a gurdwara, these are the Sikhs.

(bright music) (congregation singing in foreign language) This special day is a celebration called Baisakhi, and many children are singing passages from the Sikhs' holy book.

(congregation singing in foreign language) After the ceremony, a special communal meal is held called Langar.

All the food is vegetarian.

- [Man] See, here we go.

Here we go.

(man speaking in foreign language) (bright music) - [Narrator] Dr. Damyanti Luthra says there's always food in the gurdwara.

(bright music) (indistinct chatter) But it's not pierogis they're making.

- This is called poori, it's made with flour only.

It's whole wheat flour.

It's almost like a fried dough you use.

- [Narrator] The gurdwara building is not finished yet.

Gurdial Singh Mehta, a founding member here, says it will soon have golden domes pointing to the sky.

- And we will have the domes here on all six pillars there.

According to one saint, this means it reminds you not to look down on the earthly things but towards God.

(man chanting in foreign language) - [Narrator] Another group of immigrants built this exotic structure on a hillside above the parkway in Penn Hills, it's a Hindu temple.

(man chanting in foreign language) - It's built strictly according to the Hindu architectural rules.

It's built just like any other... any temple of this kind will be built in India.

- Mr. Chinnarao Mokkapati is chairman of the board here.

- [Chinnarao] This temple is called the Sri Venkateswara Temple; in short, S. V. Temple.

- [Narrator] The S. V. Temple was the first authentic Hindu structure in America.

(congregation chanting in foreign language) (bells chiming) While photography is not allowed in the holy part of the temple where the main idols reside, this ceremony performed in Sanskrit by one of the Temple's priests is a kind of blessing to start a music festival in the temple's small auditorium.

(group singing in foreign language) This immigrant community, like so many who've come to Pittsburgh, establish this temple to preserve traditions and to pass their faith onto their children.

(congregation singing in foreign languages) - It's quite possible to imagine that you are waking up in India because you see all these colorful costumes, saris, and the little children where the languages... they talk different languages.

Not one language is spoken here.

India has several languages and many hundreds of dialects.

- [Narrator] Mrs. Rajshri Gopal was one of the original members of this temple.

(congregation singing in foreign language) - [Rajshri] You can be a good Hindu without even going to the temple.

But then we were thinking of the next generation, there is a vacuum, the children born here.

And then we had to take the responsibility of giving this grand inheritance to them.

(gentle organ music) - Domes, steeples, bells, and all the holy places, people look to them not only for worship but also for comfort, for guidance and for a sense of community and history; and when the bells of Immaculate Heart of Mary on Polish Hill ring out on a spring Sunday morning, it's obvious.

In the late 20th century, a lot of people in Pittsburgh still go to church, from the oldest congregations to the newest.

All over the Pittsburgh area, these holy buildings offer space for sharing and passing on love and holiness.

(lively music) ♪ Thank God for every flower and each tree ♪ ♪ Thank God for all the mountains and the seas ♪ ♪ Thank God for giving life to you and me ♪ ♪ Wherever you may be ♪ ♪ Thank God ♪ ♪ There's a road that's straight and narrow ♪ ♪ That the saints have traveled on ♪ ♪ Paved with all the tribulations ♪ ♪ Of the martyrs that have gone ♪ ♪ If you're grateful for their victory ♪ ♪ And for showing us the way ♪ ♪ Then give thanks for all your blessings ♪ ♪ Get on your knees and pray ♪ ♪ Thank God for every flower and each tree ♪ ♪ Thank God for all the mountains and the seas ♪ ♪ Thank God ♪ - [Announcer] "Holy Pittsburgh" is underwritten in part by the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation.

At the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation, we believe that life is like that of an oak tree, strong and beautiful, and should be given every chance to grow.

We are pleased to join with WQED in providing personal growth and experience through quality programing to the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

"Holy Pittsburgh" is also made possible by your member contributions.

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