Washington National Cathedral (officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul), is the Episcopalian cathedral of Washington D.C. and the national house of prayer of the USA.
Located on Mt. St. Alban at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in Washington, DC, the National Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world and second largest in the United States. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The National Cathedral is affiliated with the U.S. government by a charter of Congress signed on January 6, 1893, but does not receive any federal, state or city funding.
The National Cathedral’s final design shows a mix of influences from the various Gothic architectural styles of the middle ages, marked, among other things, by pointed arches, flying buttresses, vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, stone-carved decorations, and three similar towers, two on the west front and one surmounting the crossing.
Its west end is reminiscent of Bristol Cathedral in England. It sits on a landscaped 57 acre (230,000 m²) plot on Mount Saint Alban, in northwest Washington, DC.
Washington National Cathedral consists of a long, narrow rectangular interior formed by an eight-bay nave with wide side aisles and a five-bay chancel, intersected by a six-bay transept.
Above the crossing rising 91 m (301 ft) above the ground is the Gloria in Excelsis Tower. Its top, at 206 m (676 ft) above sea level is the highest point in Washington, DC. In total, the cathedral is 115 m (375 ft) above sea level. Uniquely, the tower has two full sets of bells — a 53-bell carillon and a 10-bell peal for change ringing.
The one-story porch projecting from the south transept has a large portal with a carved tympanum. This portal is approached by the Pilgrim Steps, a long flight of steps 12 m (40 ft) wide. Most of the building is constructed using gray Indiana limestone. Some concrete and structural steel were also used sparingly.
The interior of Washington National Cathedral abounds in architectural sculptures, wood carvings, mosaics and wrought iron pieces. There is even a gargoyle of Darth Vader on the north tower.
There are other works of art including over two hundred stained glass windows, the most familiar of which may be the Space Window, honoring man’s landing on the Moon, which includes a fragment of lunar rock at its center.
Most of the decorative elements naturally incorporate Christian symbolism and biblical stories, but the cathedral is also filled with memorials to persons or events of national significance: statues of Washington and Lincoln, state seals embedded in the mosaic floor of the narthex, state flags that hang along the nave, and stained glass commemorating events like the Lewis and Clark expedition
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John // August 7, 2009 at 6:34 am |
This is truly one of the world’s greatest buildings.