Now, where was I?
Oh, right. I was recovering from a 5-day Mardi Gras bender. Never fear, though. The affair was not all booze, Bourbon Street and...well, you get the idea. The Project actually found time to visit New Orleans' famed St. Louis Cathedral, a Greek revival structure that majestically dominates Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter.
(Before I go any further, let me note that I did not take any photos. I didn't want to risk taking the Project's camera to Mardi Gras. Underwhelming though it may be, it is our only means of operation. Were something to happen to it, we'd be out of commission. And then what would you do with yourselves? These pictures, for the record, come from Wikipedia.)
St. Louis provides an interesting case study in the "wrath of God," since it's been rebuilt at least three times, once due to fire and once to due to hurricane. Nevertheless, it has the unique distinction of being the oldest, continually active cathedral in the United States. Yes, that's correct. Parts of this building are 217 years old. Or so says the nice cantor who directed mass.
What wasn't rebuilt was remodeled numerous times. In the 1850s the original Spanish-style exterior was refitted with the current Greek revival facade. Inside, you get a columned, non-cruciform Baroque design that's highlighted by great mural around the sanctuary and on the ceiling, beautiful pictorial stained-glass windows, and an impressive (and functional) organ.
Of particular interest is the fact that St. Louis has a second gallery on top of the nave, which isn't really seen in Philly churches. (St. John the Baptist has something similar, I believe, but it's a poor imitation.)
The really bizarre thing is the flat arches. Arches almost always have some sort of curvature, whether it's a Gothic point or a Romanesque semi-circle. Baroque uses semi-circles, too, but not here--it's all flat, which is a really strange look, especially since the columns themselves are not overly ornate.
Oh, and the design of the gallery ceilings and arches make for some pretty poor sightlines, too. The side altars, for example, are almost invisible, even if you're sitting in the side aisles.
Alright, enough nitpicking. It's a very lovely church, and if you're ever in New Orleans, be sure to check it out. There's a pirate-themed absinthe bar across the street, too, if you're interested. :)
The Project approves.
Sorry for the disappearing act this past week, but as I mentioned in a previous post, the Project was out of town.
Where did we go? To celebrate Mardi Gras in grand style, of course. And that could only mean one place: New Orleans, Louisiana!
Cool city, absolutely ridiculous event. At the risk of losing my moral authority I'll leave it at that, but I will say it's good to be back home and I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle. Just hang on a little longer until the jet lag and travel fatigue have worn off.
You haven't heard the last about New Orleans, though. It's an old city. There are old churches. I might have visited one. Intrigued? Stick around.
The Project doesn't generally feature non-Philly content, but the following letter was too good to pass up. Written by someone simply called "super blue," it calls our attention to the unsightly fate of one of Pittsburgh's better churches, Sts. Peter and Paul.
(The same church, coincidentally, that was featured in the irreverent Ben Affleck / Matt Damon film "Dogma." The Project, naturally, is a fan.)
From the letter:
Dear "The Project" ;)
Yes, this church is the Church of Sts Peter and Paul and is in the East Liberties section of Pittsburgh. It was once a German Roman Catholic church and has it's roots going as far back as 1857 with the St. Philomena parish. This parish outgrew it's church and the cornerstone for St's Peter and Paul was laid in 1890. In 1909 the interiors and the roof of the church was ravaged by fire and they rebuilt it again, still using the remains of the previous church (exteriors, the twin spires). The version you see here was completed in 1910.
It remained an active Roman Catholic church until 1992 when, due to closing of the steel mills and resulting population exodus, the diocese consolidated with 5 other ethnic parishes that it no longer could sustain and created the St. Charles Lwanga parish. Sts Peter and Paul then closed and then was later sold to a protestant minister/congregation.
In 1999 it was featured in the Kevin Smith/Matt Damon/Ben Afleck movie, "Dogma".
From here on out the Church has taken a very tragic direction.
Within a few very short months after the film came out, the church was broken into and robbed. They took many altar fixtures, all the pews, some lighting, broke some of the irreplaceable stained glass windows and even took part of the pipe organ (which, I had been told by the minister was among the largest in the Pitttsburgh area). This ransacking devastated the church and the minister's hopes on rebuilding this parish. They held a fundraiser and raised a significant amount of money which they immediately put back into the church, but to add insult to injury, they were robbed a *second* time and this time it put them in the red. As many of the items stolen were on loan to the church and were used as part of the fundraiser. This prompted the church to install and activate a security system.
Since then the restoration process has been slow and raising the funds much more difficult and the church itself has been deteriorating in every way. There is a fair amount of structural damage that can be seen both on the exterior and the interior. Even with a healthy restoration project going, I fear that it might be too late for this magnificent building.
The stained glass in this church is still mostly intact and is incredibly beautiful.....without a doubt irreplaceable, and i'm not sure why it was never transferred to another church when it was closed. The pipe organ itself is one of a kind, with the console and most of the structure still there. It also needs a major restoration, but that can be upwards of $20k.
In addition to the church, there is also a rectory (beautiful) and a large school building as well. They attempted to use the school building to set up a Charter School, but for some reason was met with community resistance and the minister believes this resistance has hampered his restoration attempts with the church as well.
I have cultivated a bit of a relationship with the minister and it's caretaker that has allowed me to visit the church (I do hope to go back soon), but i've found that the minister VERY much likes to refer to Sts Peter and Paul as a "Cathedral". He does get offended when you do not ;)
Super Blue was even kind enough to forward some photos:
Very, very nice building. Gothic, columned, cruciform. Definite Germanic / ethnic overtones--it certainly wouldn't be out of place on Church Alley. And some of the ornamentation, like the tiles in arches, reminds me a little of Transfiguration of Our Lord or Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
But yeah, that's a lot of damage. Hopefully the restoration efforts can give the place some semblance of salvation. The fact that the stained-glass windows are somehow still intact is a miracle in and of itself, and gives me great hope that the rest can be repaired. Windows are the most fragile part of a church, after all. If they can survive, so can the rest of it.
For more information on the church, including some more great photography, check out these two sites:
Preservation Photo
Dogma Filming Location
That's right! We're now three years old!
Ok, technically it happened on February 3, but whatever. The point is, we've made it to another year!
Read the official announcement here:
The Project Turns Three!
Yes, we usually celebrate these things with a church visit, but with the Project snowed in this weekend, and going out of town next weekend, it'll have to wait.
