Earlier this week I visited the Washington National Cathedral.
The Cathedral has a very long history, going back to the very beginning of Washington, DC. In 1791, President George Washington hired Pierre L'Enfant to plan the city that would become Washington, DC. L'Enfant imagined that the city would include space for something like the National Cathedral.
But it took over 100 years before anyone started to build the cathedral. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke at a ceremony where workers laid the first stone.
Builders continued working on the cathedral for 83 years before it was finally finished in 1990. That's 199 years after Pierre L'Enfant first had the idea!
Emily's friend Betsy lives across the street from the National Cathedral. I could get a really good view of the Cathedral from her apartment window.
Betsy let me use her telescope to look at some of the grotesques and gargoyles on the Cathedral up close. There are over 100 of them around the Cathedral! Here is one of the most famous ones: Darth Vader!
The National Cathedral has a webpage about their grostesques and gargoyles - or you can see all of them up close at this website.
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| Photo courtesy of Library of Congress |
But it took over 100 years before anyone started to build the cathedral. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke at a ceremony where workers laid the first stone.
Builders continued working on the cathedral for 83 years before it was finally finished in 1990. That's 199 years after Pierre L'Enfant first had the idea!
Emily's friend Betsy lives across the street from the National Cathedral. I could get a really good view of the Cathedral from her apartment window.
Betsy let me use her telescope to look at some of the grotesques and gargoyles on the Cathedral up close. There are over 100 of them around the Cathedral! Here is one of the most famous ones: Darth Vader!
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| Photo courtesy of the National Cathedral |
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