Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

Saint John the Divine is located in Morningside Heights near Columbia University in Manhattan. In 1887 the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York called for a cathedral to rival Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The cathedral was designed in 1888 and construction began in 1892. After start of the construction, the original Byzantine-Romanesque design was changed to Gothic design. A noted Gothic Revival architect was hired to design the nave and convert what had been built to a Gothic design. The result is a number of architectural styles with a Gothic nave, a Romanesque crossing under the dome, chapels in French, English, and Spanish Gothic styles as well as Norman and Byzantine, according to Wikipedia.

To raise money for the nave in 1925, Franklin D. Roosevelt headed the New York campaign committee to raise $10 million. From Wikipedia, “The Cathedral was opened end-to-end for the first time on November 30, 1941, a week before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Construction was halted because the bishop believed the church's funds would better be spent on works of charity, and because the United States' subsequent involvement with the Second World War greatly limited available manpower. “After a large fire on December 18, 2001, it was closed for repairs and reopened in November 2008. It remains unfinished, with construction and restoration a continuing process.” Hence the nickname “Saint John the unfinished.”

The Cathedral is 601 feet (186 meters) in length, and the nave ceiling reaches 124 feet (37.7 m) high. It is the longest Gothic nave in the United States, at 230 feet (70 m).

Robert Joffrey, choreographer and the founder of Joffrey Ballet (now located in Chicago) is buried at the cathedral.

For more detail on the church's history, see NYC Architecture or Wikipedia.

Saint John is a photography friendly place, with tripods allowed in the cathedral. To use a tripod, simply check in with the guard station outside on the right side. I have been to the church on five occasions and have found the staff very friendly and helpful, a great place to visit. This photo was taken in the early afternoon on an overcast day with the sun peeking through clouds. The building is a combination of an HDR version and a correctly exposed version.

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