“I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of
mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it
made a cathedral.”
Robert
Louis Stevenson
We
spotted the beautiful cathedral spires from a long way off as we
wandered the lovely streets of Savannah and we knew that was the
church we were heading to see. It seems everyone puts this
cathedral on their must see list while touring Savannah so we figured
there must be something to it and we needed to check it out. This
cathedral is located on Lafayette Square at 222 E. Harris Street. As
we got close to this magnificent building, we stood outside and
looked up at the impressive spires that raise up 207 feet to the sky. What a site to see with the
bright blue sky as their backdrop. The imposing steps beacon you to
enter the church through the arched doorways.
 |
| Baptismal Font |
Once
we passed through the entryway into the church and saw the beauty and
all the stunning details of this magnificent cathedral. It near
brought me to my knees. This cathedral was spectacular. The high
arched ceiling are 66 feet high, along with the inspiring murals, the stained glass windows, the
altar, the colors, and everywhere we looked there was more to take
in. Walking around I felt a feeling of peacefulness and serenity as
the suns rays gleamed through the stained glass windows and colors
danced on the pews. This is God’s home, I’m sure of it. I felt
his presence guide me around his home and whispering to me to look
up.
When
we got near the alter, there was an older male tour guide talking
about this cathedral to a group of tourist, so we listened to him as
well since he was so animated, interesting, and boisterous. His
main emphasis in his speech was, “Just look up. What is this
church trying to tell you? Look Up. Everything about this church
points to the heavens. This church wants you to look up to heavens
and praise God.” He was so right. This church was built in the
French Gothic style with imposing transepts and nave. Looking up,
the intricate details of this church went all the way to the ceiling
and seemed to be pointing to heaven.
The
altar was built of Carrar marble from Italy and weighs 9,000 pounds.
Inscribed on the front of the main altar is the phase, “Beati Qui
Ad Cenam Agni Vocati Sunt” in Latin which means “Blessed are
they who are called to the banquet of the Lamb.”
The stations of the cross are located on the north and south side of the church and are beautiful three dimensional wooden displays. They were carved in Munich and then shipped to Savannah. They were then placed in the wooden shadow boxes that were made in the United States. They were placed here in 1900 after the fire.
The
murals in this cathedral were painted by Christopher Murphy, who was
an artist from Savannah and a firm of artists. What amazing work
was done here. Each painting is so full of emotion and life. There
are 34 amazing murals to see. They nickname this church “The
Sistine of the South” since the murals are masterpieces and a
wonder to see.
A
little of the history about Savannah and this church is that when the
colonial charter was first established, Roman Catholics were
prohibited from settling here in this city. Did I hear you ask why?
The English were afraid the Catholics would be loyal to the Spanish
authorities in Florida and the Pope in Italy and not them. This ban
ended after the American Revolution.
The
first to emigrate here were the French Catholics who established the
first church here in 1799 after leaving Haiti after the slave
rebellions in their country in 1791. This was the main church for
free blacks from Haiti in the 19th century including
Haitian nobleman. This church was dedicated on April 1, 1839 and at
the time, this parish consisted of one-third of the Catholic
population in Georgia. It was then located on Liberty Square but as
their congregation grew they needed more space and moved to this
location.
Construction
started on this new cathedral in 1873 and the sanctuary was dedicated
on April 30, 1876 but at the time lacked the spires. The twin
spires were fully completed in 1896 and the brick church was stuccoed
and whitewashed. The architect was Ephraim Francis Baldwin. In 1898
a fire nearly destroyed this structure; just leaving the walls and
towers in place, but the community got together and rebuilt this
building by 1899. The interior took another 13 years to be fully
completed and the stained glass windows were put in place in 1904.
They were made by Innsbruck Glassmakers in the Austrian Tyrol.
There
have been many renovations of this church since it was originally
built including one in 1959-1965 which was when they renovated the
heating, cooling, lighting, and decorations. Then again in
1984-1985 when they worked on reinforcing the foundation, and last in
1998 to 2000 when they installed a new roof, restored the interior
color and decorations.
The
pipe organ was not installed until 1987 and is a Noack tracker organ
that has 34 Ranks and 2,308 pipes. It has a case made of solid
white oak and black walnut. It is beautiful to see and I’m sure
it sounds fabulous but unfortunately we did not get to hear it.
Maybe on another visit. The beautiful rose window above the organ is
a beautiful window showing St. Cecilia, the patroness of music in the
middle with other celestial figures surrounding her performing on
musical instruments.
This
is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Georgia and is also the Mother
church for the Diocese in Savannah. The church is open for self
guided tours from Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 11:45 and
12:45 to 5:00 pm. It is free to walk around but they would
appreciate a $3 donation a person to help with the upkeep.
If
you are ever in Savannah, this is a stop you must make. It will
bring out the spirituality in you and make you look to the heavens to
God to reflect. We were so glad this made it on our list of things
to do in Savannah. Check them out at: www.savannahcathedral.org.
Bye for now.
“So
many things become beautiful when you really look.”
Lauren
Oliver
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#ThingsToSeeInSavannah #ChurchesSavannah
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