Saints Peter and Paul Church: The Italian Cathedral of the West

Why is it significant?

Stand in reverence before the towering twin spires of Saints Peter and Paul Church, known across California as the 'Italian Cathedral of the West'.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand in reverence before the towering twin spires of Saints Peter and Paul Church, known across California as the 'Italian Cathedral of the West'. Administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco since 1897, the church served as the spiritual and social fortress for hundreds of thousands of Italian immigrants who settled North Beach after the Gold Rush. The original 1884 church on Grant Avenue was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake; construction on this magnificent Romanesque-Gothic structure began in 1912 and was completed in 1924, its twin one hundred ninety-foot towers rising majestically over Washington Square.

Look closely at the central facade, inscribed with the opening lines of Dante Alighieri's Paradiso in Italian: 'La gloria di colui che tutto move per l'universo penetra e risplende'—'The glory of Him who moves all things penetrates and shines through the universe.' It is one of the only Catholic churches in the United States bearing classical Italian poetry across its main facade.

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio grew up in North Beach, was baptized in this parish, and lived just blocks away. When DiMaggio famously married Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954, Catholic canon law prevented a church wedding because both had been previously divorced. Undeterred, the glamorous newlyweds rushed to the front steps of Saints Peter and Paul to pose for worldwide press photographers, forever linking the church with Hollywood royalty. Generations of writers, artists, and independent thinkers have drawn creative energy from this very setting, cementing San Francisco's international reputation as a haven of intellectual freedom and community solidarity. Generations of writers, artists, and independent thinkers have drawn creative energy from this very setting, cementing San Francisco's international reputation as a haven of intellectual freedom and community solidarity.

Step inside to observe the stunning carrara marble high altar, crafted in Italy and shipped in pieces through the Panama Canal.

Walk east along Filbert Street, climbing up the western slopes of Telegraph Hill toward the summit of Coit Tower.