St. Mary of the Angels

This titanic Catholic church in Chicago is also a refuge of the fictional cult-favorite wizard detective Harry Dresden. Those riding the Union Pacific through Clybourn Station on Chicago’s West Side would be hard-pressed not to notice a truly massive church soaring above its neighboring buildings. But the building has more than just a physical presence—it looms large in literature, too. This impressive construct, located in the neighborhood of Bucktown, is St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church. Built in the early 1900s at a cost of more than $7 million in today’s dollars, it sprawls across a full city block, dominating the skyline in its section of the city.