For almost a century, worshipers stepping inside Sacred Heart Catholic Church have been greeted with an ethereal glow from more than 70 stained-glass windows.
Crafted by German artists, they are among the most grand collections of ecclesiastic windows in Florida.
But time, pollution and weather have robbed much of their luster. So in the coming months, craftsmen will be busy dismantling, cleaning, restoring and then reinstalling the windows at the downtown Tampa church.
"You won't find too many churches in the South with this much detail in their windows," said Larry Cabrera, Sacred Heart's business administrator. "This is unique."
Most of the windows were installed in 1904 and 1905 and designed by the Mayer Co. in Munich, Germany.