Washington National Cathedral

Nick and I heard about an organ concert going on at the Washington National Cathedral and decided it would be the perfect Sunday evening activity. We thought it would be a Catholic church, but it is actually Episcopalian. The architecture of the cathedral is awe-inspiring!

They began building it in the 1930s and it was completed in the 1950s. The traditional pillars, columns, arches and windows were incredibly ornate--we couldn't stop looking at all of the detailed work. It was such a large and expansive building. Neither of us have ever seen a church quite like it.

While we listened to the music, we enjoyed looking through the hymn books and prayer books, learning more about the beliefs and traditions of the Church.

For anyone interested, here are some details about the organ: "The existing organ located in the Great Choir of the Cathedral was constructed by the Ernest M. Skinner & Sons Co. and installed in 1938. As it now stands, the organ contains nine divisions and more than 10,650 pipes. the reverberant acoustics of the Cathedral compliment the sound of the organ, giving it a spacious and majestic character. A height of 100 feet from the marbel floor to the top of the vault and an interior length of 480 feet combine to produce more than five seconds of natural reverberation."

We wanted to take a lot more pictures of the building, but by the time the concert was over it was too dark for most of them to turn out. We'll try getting better pictures another time!

As we were leaving the building, the wind picked up and almost blew my hair off my head! Shortly afterward it started to pour rain. So much for any great exterior pictures :(

Nick and Me in front of the Cathedral.

Nick and me WET in the elevator finding shelter from the storm.