The National Cathedral

On Veterans Day I drove Mom and Tín out to Washington National Cathedral. There aren't any Metro stops near the cathedral. We would have had to take the Metro and then transfer to a bus. I decided to brave it and drive there. Luckily, it wasn't too bad.

I can see the Cathedral when I'm on the treadmill at the fitness center in my building. Even from that far away it looks pretty huge. Being there up close and personal is another matter though. It is immense. A tour on the art and architecture of the cathedral was going to be starting soon after we got there so we sat in a pew and waited about 10 minutes. I was gawking again.

The tour lasted about an hour and was very informative, but I felt like it barely scratched the surface because there was so much to take in. The docent told us about gothic architecture, the history of the cathedral, the chapels, the stained-glass windows, the carvings, the wrought-iron gates, the organs, the needlepointed kneelers and more. This picture is of the high altar. I'm amazed by the carving. The statues are incredible, but what takes my breath away is the decorative filigree-like work. This is stone! Just amazing.

The stained glass windows (according to the website there are 231 of them) are so beautiful. This not very good picture is called The Space Window and contains a piece of lunar rock embedded in it. Does that surprise you? It did me. Since the cathedral is gothic in style you get the feeling as though it's been there for hundreds of years, but it hasn't. The foundation stone was laid in 1907. It was built in sections with the west towers completed in 1990, making it the longest-running construction project in DC.

There are different tours and I sure hope to do each one. I haven't checked them out yet, but there are online tours that you can do from the comfort of your own home. My next trip there will be to see the Annual Creché Exhibit for the holidays.