Saints Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco

Standing proudly at 666 Filbert Street, Saints Peter and Paul Church has been watching over Washington Square Park since the late 19th century. Born in 1884 to serve San Francisco’s booming Italian community, the original church met a fiery end in the 1906 earthquake. But like any good North Beach legend, it made a comeback—bigger, bolder, and with twin spires soaring 191 feet into the fog. When the rebuilt church opened in 1924, it didn’t just reclaim its place in the skyline; it became a defiant symbol of faith and survival.

Step closer, and the details tell their own story. The façade borrows straight from Italian Gothic playbooks, featuring a mosaic line from Dante’s Paradise and stone carvings of the four Evangelists. Inside, the star attraction is a 40-ton Carrara marble altar designed by Charles Fantoni in 1926. It gleams under frescoes and statuary, the kind of craftsmanship that makes you whisper even if you’re not praying...

But the 1920s brought not only growth but also turmoil. The church suffered several bombing attacks by radical anti-Catholic anarchists, including a fatal incident in 1927 that shattered its doors and windows. Still, the parish carried on—first for Italian immigrants, and then embracing the growing Chinese-American Catholic community. These days, Mass is celebrated in English, Italian, Cantonese, and occasionally Latin, reflecting the parish’s enduring diversity.

And then there’s the celebrity chapter. Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio tied the knot here in 1939, and decades later, his funeral returned him to the same pews. The church also appeared in films such as Dirty Harry and The Dead Pool (both starring Clint Eastwood). Known affectionately as “the Italian Cathedral of the West,” Saints Peter's and Paul's remains a blend of beauty, grit, and grace that continues to anchor the soul of North Beach—admired for its architecture, layered history, and continuing role in the city’s spiritual life.