Darth Vader Spotted at Washington National Cathedral

My daughter and I took a quick trip to the Washington National Cathedral around lunch time during the week. We were virtually alone. But the one person we spoke to is a gentleman, who is national parks tour guide. He told us all about the church. Did you know that the Washington National Cathedral is the first and last great cathedral built in the 20th century? The Cathedral was built using the original Gothic construction methods just like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The Washington National Cathedral aka The Nation’s Cathedral is an architectural jewel. One interesting tidbit is that this Cathedral will outlast all other. He told us that if all the great US cathedrals went without maintenance, this is the cathedral that would outlast all others. Furthermore, due to the construction, the National Cathedral is likely to survive all cathedrals in the world.

Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC

The National Place of Worship

Stain Glass

Stain glass devoted to the Apollo Moon mission and space travel

Go Around Noon

My daughter and I recommend that you visit around visiting during off hours, but, go more than once for several reasons. The first and most important is the traffic is terrible in Washington, DC. If you go at noon time, you have the best chance of avoiding DC traffic. Secondly, the number of people visiting the site is very low at lunchtime. Last but not least, the tour guides are around and free to show you around, and will give you pointers on the Cathedral. As I said, we met an excellent guide who told us about the construction and helped us out a lot with a small private tour. We thought this guide is actually, one of the highlights of the trip.

When we finished, we hurried back to home so that we could avoid the traffic. Everything in DC is always about the traffic. So be forewarned – you are going to run into traffic anywhere you go in DC.

Our Favorite Pictures

Walking through the residential neighborhood to the front of the cathedral

The view as we walk to the entrance – majestic

The front of the Washington National Cathedral

Entering the sanctuary approaching the altar

Up to the inner altar

Looking back from the altar, the sheer size of the church is impressive

Chapel one of many side chapels

Another side chapel

A baptismal naive

We went to the observatory and walked it to see the surrounding neighborhood

I believe the Washington National Cathedral is the greatest church built in the 20th century, maybe of all time. Please don’t miss it. P.S. you will love the Gargoyles decorating the outside of the church. Keep an eye out for Darth Vader. He is one of the Gargoyles guarding the outside of the church.