 This is the Washington National Cathedral located at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Officially known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the Washington National Cathedral is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The Cathedral is of the Gothic Revival style (an architectural movement which began in the 1740s in England). The Washington Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world, the second largest in the United States (After Saint John’s Cathedral in New York City), and the fourth tallest structure in Washington, D.C (after the Washington Monument, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Old Post Office Building). Construction of the Cathedral began on September 29, 1907 with a ceremonial address by President Theodore Roosevelt. The building took nearly a century to complete, with the final stone laid in place on September 29, 1990. Perhaps the construction took so long because the funding for the Cathedral came entirely from private sources. The Cathedral has been the site of two Presidential state funerals (Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan) and is also the final resting place for President Woodrow Wilson. It was from Washington National Cathedral's Canterbury Pulpit that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered the final Sunday sermon of his life, just a few days before his assassination. Trivia about the Cathedral: (1) There is a sculpture of Darth Vader on top of the Cathedral's west tower. It is perhaps the only church in the world that has anything to do with Star Wars. (2) The Space Window on the south aisle of the Cathedral contains a piece of lunar rock. (3) The Cathedral labyrinth is a medieval design based on the one in the floor of the nave at Chartres Cathedral in France. (4) There are a total of 112 gargoyles strategically situated around the Cathedral. You can even take a Gargoyle tour. (5) The Cathedral welcomes nearly 700,000 visitors and worshipers annually. ### I'll be posting a few more images I captured in Washington D.C. this week, and then I'm moving on to something new next week. I probably won't be able to post all the photos I want this week, which means that I'll come back to posting the rest of the photos sometime in the future. One thing I am considering doing is creating a self-published book via Blurb on my stroll through Georgetown. I know I've mentioned before my idea for creating a book (on another theme), but I'm thinking that I have around twenty images from Georgetown that will make for a nice self-contained volume (the recent visit, combined with the way I think about Georgetown and the way I approached photographing it, is a compelling drive to make this book a reality). And if I do create this book, it will include photos which won't ever be published on Erudite Expressions. Let me know if you think this is a worthy venture or if you're interested in finding out more. In the meantime, feel free to join my recently created facebook fan page, check out my new blog on reading, and/or say hello using the contact link below. |
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