Washington National Cathedral

Washington, DC: Located on top of Mount Saint Alban sits the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, more commonly known as the Washington National Cathedral. The cathedral is the sixth largest in the world and the second largest in the country. It is the final resting place for many well known Americans and has been the site of some of the country’s historic moments.

The idea of a National Cathedral was a portion of Pierre L’Enfant’s master plan for Washington DC. The plan commissioned by President George Washington called for a “great church for national purposes.”

In 1893, President Benjamin Harrison signed a charter to establish the cathedral. Reverend Henry Yates Satterlee then purchased land on Mount Saint Alban in 1896 and the project was in motion.

The cornerstone was laid on September 29, 1907 in a ceremony by President Theodore Roosevelt and the Bishop of London. The eighty three year construction of the cathedral would be the longest construction project in DC. The first phase of the project, the Bethlehem Chapel was completed in 1912 and the final stone was placed in 1990.

Throughout the history of the cathedral, many historic events have taken place here. It became site of services for the end of World War I and for memorial services for World War II, Vietnam War and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr performed his final Sunday sermon in the Canterbury Pulpit before being assassinated in Memphis. The cathedral also held the Presidential prayer service for Franklin D Roosevelt in 1937, Ronald Regan in 1985, George HW Bush in 1989, George W Bush in 2001/2005 and Barrack Obama in 2009. It was also the site of the
Presidential funerals of Woodrow Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.

In addition to the services, the cathedral is the final resting place for over 220 people. The list of those interred within the cathedral include; President Woodrow Wilson, Edith Wilson, Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, Larz Anderson, George Dewey, Cordell Hull.

The cathedral was ranked third on the list of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects in 2007 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is based on the Gothic architecture featuring flying buttresses, vaulted ceilings and multiple stained glass windows. The Gloria in Excelsis Tower is the highest point in Washington DC and includes the Pilgrim Observation Gallery, a public observation deck providing magnificent views of the city. The cathedral boasts 231 stained glass windows, 228 angels and 112 gargoyles.

The 231 stained glass windows each tell a story of either biblical or American history. One of the most famous of the windows is the Space Window. The Space Window celebrates the accomplishments of the space program and the window even contains a lunar rock. Other windows commemorate the Lewis and Clark expeditions, Civil War, the Creation, the Last Judgment and many more.

Today the Washington National Cathedral hosts over 700,000 visitors annually.

For more photos, visit my National Cathedral photo page.