These Walls Can Talk:

The Immigration Tour

Take a deeper dive into the history and stories of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church’s congregation, why people immigrated to Pittsburgh, and how immigrants built their lives in America while maintaining cultural connections. Rich with detail, including oral histories and archival photos, this one-of-a-kind experience interprets a selection of Maxo Vanka’s murals in the context of world events and the cherished recollections of parishioners.

The Immigration Tour is 75 minutes, including time for questions and discussion. We recommend taking Meet Maxo Vanka: The Public Tour as a compliment to this experience.

Schedule

Last Saturday of the month, 12:30pm

Admission

Admission is $22 per person. Student discount available. Children under 5 are free.

Interested in a private tour? Experience a personalized experience tailored to your group. To request a private booking, please complete the form on our Private Tours page. Advance notice of 7 days is preferred.

Thanks for supporting the murals

Tour admission fees are essential to our efforts to ensure public access to the murals. All proceeds from public tours and sales of gift items support the ongoing conservation and education efforts of the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka.

More to Tour

Visit the shop

Following your tour, visitors are welcome to purchase postcards, stickers, t-shirts, and other gift items to share with family and friends. You can also shop online.

Private Tours

Private tours are available by request with advanced notice and based on availability. Please visit our Private Tours page to submit a request.

Questions? Visit FAQs & Directions >

The Murals Experience Reviews

					  We visited on a rainy Saturday at 11 AM. The docent led us around the murals for an hour and a half with excellent history and explanation of the artwork.



The mirrors combine religious history, spirituality, and 1940s political activism in amazing ways.  Mary Queen  of Croatia has big strong arms and thighs, defending the baby Jesus.  Justice is counterbalanced with Injustice as tall and very graphic figures. In the back we see the counterpoint of "mothers losing their sons to war", against "mothers losing their sons to industry".  You should go!				
Kit K
November 27, 2017 

					  A small group of us were led through Saint Nicholas Croatian Church to view the Maxo Vanka murals there. The docent was very knowledgeable about the church and the artist - some sad but great stories - Vanka's WWI experience and loss of homeland are both strongly in evidence in the murals. I would almost put these somewhere between fine art and folk art in terms of style and motifs. I would never have thought to visit here on my own, so was very glad to have the opportunity to see something very unique in terms of understanding Pittsburgh's ethnic heritage! I would not suggest bringning small children to see the murals since some of them depict war and other brutal scenes.				
haiykuhi
June 21, 2019 

					  Definitely the highlight my trip to Pittsburgh, besides visiting family. I also visited the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Mattress Factory, but this was a real buried treasure. The strength, beauty and messages in these murals really do correspond to the murals of the Mexican muralists Rivera and Orozco. I loved the setting and the feeling of history being in the church.It conveys the spirit of a unique community, honoring their religion, their labor, the immigrant experience and the rejection of war and capitalist greed. The murals were painted at the end of the depression and the beginning of WWII and the artist has responded with passion to those difficult times.				
Robb1n419
April 12, 2016 