Yesterday we paid a visit to the National Cathedral located off of Wisconsin Ave. and Cathedral Ave. in Washington, DC. I have always wanted to see the Cathedral as you can view the magnificent spires from miles around, and with the beautiful weather yesterday, we figured it was the perfect time.
The Cathedral sits on 57 acres of land and is the sixth largest cathedral in the world and the second largest in the United States (the largest US cathedral is Saint John’s in New York City, and the largest in the world is St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy).
This is the side view of the building, and this (below) is my sweet husband posing in front of the side view of the building.
The total weight of the Cathedral is 150,000 tons with the average piece of stone weighing 300 pounds. The heaviest stone in the Cathedral is the 5.5 ton boss found over the west balcony.
Construction first began in 1907 but it wasn’t completed until 1990. The total cost of building the Cathedral was $65 million and was paid for by private donations.
The attention to detail is amazing, as you can see in some of these pictures.
The central tower is the highest point in Washington, DC as it stands 676 feet above sea level.
There are statues located throughout the Cathedral. 288 angels are located on the two west towers and the Cathedral has 110 gargoyles.
If you look closely, you can see the netting that covered these statues which were located over the doors to the entrance. (I am not sure why the netting was there.)
The Cathedral is open every day for people to visit. In fact, almost 700,000 people visit annually.
The doors outer doors consisted of two layers, one layer of glass and another layer of intricately carved wrought iron.
While we were there, a service was being held so we were not able to take pictures inside the main part of the church. We were, however, able to take pictures in the outer hall.
(I think you know about my slight obsession with light fixtures.)
This is just one example of the 215 stained glass windows in the Cathedral. Did you know, that more than 10,500 pieces of stained glass make up the west rose window? I really wish we could have taken pictures inside as I have never seen more beautiful stained glass windows, even in the cathedrals we visited in England. They were stunning.
The Cathedral conducts regular services which includes the playing of the Great Organ (which is made up of 10,650 pipes).
There are more than 150 people interred in the Cathedral, including Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller.
The Cathedral is a beautiful building and definitely worth seeing if you are ever in the area. And maybe when you visit you’ll be able to hear the ringing of the 53 bells in the carillon (the largest of which weighs 24,000 pounds).
Even if you don’t hear the bells or the organ, it is well worth the visit.
(Facts taken from http://www.nationalcathedral.org.)
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