Passersby on the road to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo during this 100th anniversary year sometimes wonder the whole story behind a lovely little roadside shrine tucked away at an intersection along the way. Residents, as well, have wanted to know more as they rest there for quiet moments.

The shrine is one of two religious memorials near the early Broadmoor Hotel, gifts for the community created for and by the fascinating female descendants of philanthropist Julie Penrose.

The wayside sacred place on Penrose Boulevard at Old Stage Road is a St. Jude Thaddeus Wayside Shrine for travelers or those seeking a quiet respite for peace or a prayer. It is a daughter’s gift honoring her mother, Julie Penrose. St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles and known as the Patron of Hopeless Causes.

This European shrine custom, most often found in Alpine regions and sometimes with highway crosses or tiny chapels with altars, dates back to 800-1400 as a way of expressing faith or a spot for memorials on highways or trails.

The St. Jude Shrine, maintained by the Penrose El Pomar Foundation, was a gift from the Belgian Count and Countess Cornet de Ways Ruart in 1941. The countess, Gladys, was the only daughter of Julie Villiers Lewis McMillan, the American widow whose second husband was the builder of Broadmoor, Spencer Penrose.

The shrine honoring Gladys’ mother is between the hotel, their El Pomar home and the zoo that he created and where Spencer and Julie were buried above in Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun.

Not that far away, another special religious memorial, this one also near the west side of the hotel, is the architecturally acclaimed Pauline Memorial Chapel on Mesa Avenue. As her husband, Spencer, was completing his grand Broadmoor Hotel, Julie Penrose, a connoisseur and donor of art and culture throughout the community, planned a chapel across from the hotel for their hotel guests in 1918.

Not named for the famed Cappella Paolina at the Vatican but designed in its honor, this Pauline Chapel was instead built between the two World Wars and named in honor of Julie Penrose’s only grandchild, Pauline. She was the daughter of Julie’s only daughter, Gladys, a world traveler who attended private school in Belgium and, in 1914, became royalty when she married Count Cornet de Ways Ruart.

The Count and Countess and their family, including Pauline, had been held hostage by the German Army when soldiers took over their estate during the war. Julie’s chapel was later named for Pauline when the war ended, and all were safe.

Like the famed 14th-century Vatican chapel, Julie’s design choice was Italian Renaissance, and famed architect Thomas MacLaren was chosen. Twelve of his local buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the chapel.

According to El Pomar Foundation, Pauline Memorial Chapel became a Catholic mission under St. Mary’s Church downtown in 1925, becoming a new parish, St. Paul’s, with rectory and pastor. The new St. Paul’s Church opened on the site with the chapel in 1959.

Pauline Memorial Chapel was Julie Penrose’s special project, filled with priceless items from around the globe. The altar backdrop and crucifix are from Spain, a Bishop’s throne is from England, the chapel kneelers belonged to King Louis XVI, Flemish altar pieces and statues of St. John and the Blessed Mother Mary date to the early 16th century.

The final Julie project for the intimate chapel, a popular wedding and small concert location, was a pipe organ and chimes, completed in 1955, before she died in 1956. Pauline Memorial Chapel was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

In 2018, during the 100th anniversary of The Broadmoor, Belgian noblewoman Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, daughter of Countess Pauline, granddaughter of Gladys and great-granddaughter of Julie Penrose, toured her Broadmoor Penrose House family home and the chapel that carries her mother’s name. She was chauffeured in the limousine that had also carried her great-grandmother.

During her visit, the baroness shared her personal family history. She had been married twice, once to a baron, and had been the mistress of the future Belgian King Albert II for almost 20 years. He had denied their daughter, Delphine (1968), an accomplished artist, until Delphine persisted with positive DNA tests in 2020 and became Princess Delphine of Belgium. Her brother is Philippe, King of the Belgians. Delphine has two children, including Princess Josephine of Belgium, who continues the lineage of Julie Penrose.

The women of the Penrose family, starting with Julie, continue even today to have most interesting and intriguing lives and stories.