Peter Baldassari has been collecting trinkets and mementos depicting the saints since he was a child with a shoebox filled with holy cards.
Now at 63, his collection has grown into a street side shrine, a display of the canonized including photos, statues, prayer cards, and more in an alley between 4 and 8 Battery Street in Boston's North Side. An unimposing black door leads to the brick-walled sanctuary, displaying above it a "featured" saint, usually the newly divined. Vistors come from all over the world to see Baldassari's holy collection, and many strangers and neighbors alike contribute to the exhibit.
While the shrine is a personal project on private property, Baldassari has been known to give quick tours, and a good portion of the collection is visible from the street, even if the gate is locked.
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