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St. Paul's Cathedral, c.1907, Birmingham, Alabama
Interior of St. Paul's Cathederal, 1907. The columns lining each side of the isle are solid granite (trivia note!).
St Paul's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, located at 2120 Third Avenue North, on the northwest corner of its intersection with 22nd Street North in downtown Birmingham. The present Victorian Gothic brick building was dedicated on November 30, 1893.
The first Catholic church in downtown Birmingham was a 30-foot by 60-foot wooden building on a site adjacent to the present cathedral. It was moved to the present site on the corner and enlarged in 1880.
The cornerstone for the Neo-Gothic cathedral building, designed by the German-born, Chicago-based architect Alphonse Druiding, was laid on June 11, 1890 and $90,000 was spent completing the building over the next three years. The walls of the 96-foot by 140-foot building is clad in red brick and limestone with a polychrome slate roof. The two octagonal towers on the southeast front carry spires reaching to 183 feet. A large statue of Christ dominates the facade, flanked by an image of St Paul the Apostle, the church's patron and St Joseph. The interior of the nave is 66 feet wide and 130 feet long. The clerestory walls are supported by ten slender granite columns and the vaulted ceiling reaches 67 feet above the interior floor. The semicircular apse supports a domed vault and frames the altar. The original altarpiece was installed on the back wall of the sanctuary in 1905. It was fabricated in Spain of Italian marble and Mexican onyx at a cost of $5,000. It has since been modified several times, most notably in 2004 when the altar table was brought forward so that the celebrant faced the congregation. The sculpted angels flanking the tabernacle also remain from the original altar.
Irish-Americans made up the majority of the parish of St Paul's at its founding. A memorial in the southwest corner of the nave recognizes founding members of the Holy Name Society. The cathedral's stained glass windows, made by G. C. Riordan & Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio, depict the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Assumption of the Virgin, Saint Paul, Saint John, Saint Patrick, Saint John Berchmans, the Good Shepherd, the Holy Family, and Christ gathering the children. The eastern windows are topped by trefoils, while those on the west feature quatrefoils. A circular window over the sanctuary depicts the Dove of the Spirit. Statues in the interior honor Mary, the mother of Christ, St Joseph and St Anthony, patron of Italy - a nod to the increasing numbers of Italian Catholics in Birmingham.
St. Paul's Cathedral, c.1907, Birmingham, Alabama
Interior of St. Paul's Cathederal, 1907. The columns lining each side of the isle are solid granite (trivia note!).
St Paul's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, located at 2120 Third Avenue North, on the northwest corner of its intersection with 22nd Street North in downtown Birmingham. The present Victorian Gothic brick building was dedicated on November 30, 1893.
The first Catholic church in downtown Birmingham was a 30-foot by 60-foot wooden building on a site adjacent to the present cathedral. It was moved to the present site on the corner and enlarged in 1880.
The cornerstone for the Neo-Gothic cathedral building, designed by the German-born, Chicago-based architect Alphonse Druiding, was laid on June 11, 1890 and $90,000 was spent completing the building over the next three years. The walls of the 96-foot by 140-foot building is clad in red brick and limestone with a polychrome slate roof. The two octagonal towers on the southeast front carry spires reaching to 183 feet. A large statue of Christ dominates the facade, flanked by an image of St Paul the Apostle, the church's patron and St Joseph. The interior of the nave is 66 feet wide and 130 feet long. The clerestory walls are supported by ten slender granite columns and the vaulted ceiling reaches 67 feet above the interior floor. The semicircular apse supports a domed vault and frames the altar. The original altarpiece was installed on the back wall of the sanctuary in 1905. It was fabricated in Spain of Italian marble and Mexican onyx at a cost of $5,000. It has since been modified several times, most notably in 2004 when the altar table was brought forward so that the celebrant faced the congregation. The sculpted angels flanking the tabernacle also remain from the original altar.
Irish-Americans made up the majority of the parish of St Paul's at its founding. A memorial in the southwest corner of the nave recognizes founding members of the Holy Name Society. The cathedral's stained glass windows, made by G. C. Riordan & Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio, depict the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Assumption of the Virgin, Saint Paul, Saint John, Saint Patrick, Saint John Berchmans, the Good Shepherd, the Holy Family, and Christ gathering the children. The eastern windows are topped by trefoils, while those on the west feature quatrefoils. A circular window over the sanctuary depicts the Dove of the Spirit. Statues in the interior honor Mary, the mother of Christ, St Joseph and St Anthony, patron of Italy - a nod to the increasing numbers of Italian Catholics in Birmingham.