Salt Lake First Presbyterian Church field trip

While we were visiting the Cathedral of the Madeleine, we saw the First Presbyterian Church across the street and saw that it, too, used elements of the Gothic Style. So we went in, unannounced, to ask if we could look around. The pastor and his secretary were really nice and let us look all around at the lovely stained glass and the interior rooms of the building.

As you'd expect, the Presbyterian church is a lot more simple and unadorned inside, but the stained glass is very fine, and the architectural details were interesting too. It was built around the same time as the Cathedral across the street. We were really glad we decided to go in.

And there were more gargoyles!

From outside.

And the East window from inside. You can read more about the stained glass here.

Love this Madonna and Child---so tender. And the colors in the "sky" are so delicate and marbled! I love the shapes on the branches behind---maybe blossoms, maybe birds.

We particularly liked this aisle full of scenes from the life of Christ. Here is the Good Shepherd.

The details in the stained glass are so remarkable. I love the tone of Jesus' skin and the expression in his eyes here. It's amazing to see this kind of artistry rendered in glass!

Cathedral of the Madeleine field trip

I was really excited for this field trip because we always drive by the Cathedral of the Madeleine, and I've heard lots of beautiful organ recitals broadcast from there on the radio, but I've never been inside! Our study of Gothic Cathedrals gave us a perfect reason to finally visit. This cathedral is not purely Gothic in style, of course---it's kind of a neo-Romanesque on the outside and a neo-Gothic style on the inside---but it has some great examples of elements from the Gothic style.

We called ahead to make sure we wouldn't be interrupting anything when we visited, and then when we got there we were the only ones inside, so we could look our fill. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous building. It has quite an interesting part in the history of Salt Lake City as well. You can read more about it and see old pictures here.

Magnificent tympanum above the front door (it took seven years to carve, we learned)

We often hear these bells ring in the tower when we are downtown

The boys were particularly excited to see some actual gargoyles! Although they don't serve as waterspouts here.

The rose window, from outside. Pretty, but not stunning.

The stunning view is from inside. Such vibrant colors in the stained glass! And this pipe organ is so beautiful, too! I love the carvings on the case. I have always wanted to attend a concert here, and maybe someday we actually will.

Lovely Gothic arches and delicate ribbing making up the vault. 

More beautiful stained glass, and paintings above the sanctuary

We especially liked the starry ceiling above the apse.

This was such a great place to visit! We're grateful the Cathedral Staff made us so welcome. We hope to return for a concert someday!

Here are some more really cool pictures of cathedral interiors.

Gothic Architecture, Cathedrals, and Rose Window craft

This was one of the coolest crafts we've done! We got the idea from here and since we had a bunch of old CDs lying around, I thought it sounded like the perfect use for them. We looked at pictures of rose windows and talked about radial symmetry and some of the symbolic patterns and numbers that the craftsmen of the time wove into their work. 

We watched this movie about rose windows, and also really liked this NOVA special on cathedrals.

If you've never tried it, you may not realize how fun it is to draw on CDs with Sharpies. Especially for my children, who are never, never allowed to use my Sharpies! :) We had so much fun doing it that we made several "rose windows" each, and we thought the nicest-looking ones were the ones that used a lot of black to define the edges of the pattern.

After we colored our windows, we glued some of them to paper and drew Cathedrals around them. We also set several on a windowsill and enjoyed the way the sunlight came through. They are not quite like actual stained glass, but they definitely let some light through and are beautiful. We also thought it was so cool how an image of the window pattern was reflected onto the wall when we tilted the CD in the sunlight just right!

Note the apostles (not quite 12 of them) above Malachi's cathedral entrance---and the spitting gargoyle on our right